


Burn to Ashes

by conjuredmarble



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018), The Blacklist (US TV)
Genre: Character Death, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-09-06 06:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20286562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conjuredmarble/pseuds/conjuredmarble
Summary: Roughly two months after the Met Gala, Debbie Ocean's eight are brought back together again by unforeseen circumstances. Lou is the unlikely messenger while Tammy's past is brought to light when the group find themselves in dire straits as Debbie finds herself severely blindsided that might leave fatal results in the end.





	1. jack-o-lanterns in july

## jack-o-lanterns in july

  


“Don’t make me tell you again, Constance.”

“Aww, mom...”

Tammy hid a smile behind a soft curtain of blonde hair as the sound of wheels scraping against precious hardwood suddenly ceased. She heard rather than saw the youngest member of the unlikely group pick up her skateboard. She then turned just in time to catch the slight slump of the shoulders that was coupled nicely with a shy though mischievous smile that she knew all too well from having children under the age of six. From the other side of the room unaffected by the feeble attempt at manipulation, Debbie deposited an unwashed cup into the sink and the sometime housewife resisted the urge to come over and wash the cup for her. 

For all intents and purposes, before having slipped back into this life that involved striking brilliant brunettes and mysterious icy blonde motorcycle enthusiasts, Tammy had done a good job of keeping up the cover of a truly dedicated and loving housewife. It hadn’t been bad either, as long as she could dip her toe back into the water now and then. She wouldn’t deny it—she did enjoy caring for her young children and her husband. Yes, she had been just a little bit bored but it was a good life and Tammy did love having a family and not having to look over her shoulder so much.

Though of course, having a few extra million or so dollars in a very well hidden account didn’t hurt in the very least. Private school was expensive and it was always good to have a safety net stashed away somewhere for a very rainy day.

“When Lou comes back and bitches me out for the damned floors again, I swear...” Debbie gave Constance a pointed look as she brushed some non-existent whatever on her black turtleneck that went rather nicely with her dark pants and high heeled boots. “Last time she blamed my shoes, did you know that? Huh?”

“No, but I bet it was kinda funny?”

Debbie narrowed her eyes at her, “Not one damned bit.” She waved a finger at her, giving the wheeled monstrosity in her arms a dirty look. “I’m not covering for you. She’s gonna chop that piece of cork board to pieces.”

Constance smirked, “Mom wouldn’t do that. And it’s not made of cork, dude. This is the hardest board, like, ever. I’ve been trying to break it like for weeks. It’s unbreakable.” She waved the skateboard proudly, “The company who makes them sent me one to me to test out. My channel’s been blowing up! It’s so freaking dope, man. I’ve broken, like, a thousand boards. This one is probably made of vibranium or something.”

Tammy quirked an eyebrow, “Vibranium?”

“Okay, maybe not but like really hard stuff,” she traced the neon edge lining the side of the board with one finger. “See that? That’s it right there. It’s freaking awesome, dude!”

“Not when it’s scratching up the hardwood floors it isn’t, _dude_,” Debbie growled lightly. “I’ll throw it in a wood chipper. See how unbreakable it is then.”

Constance blanched, “Aww, mom. Don’t be like that.”

“Yeah, I be like that,” Debbie replied in a mocking though not unkind tone. “Lou loves this place. She will disown you, you realize that?”

The young Asian grinned, “She wouldn’t. She’s the cool mom.”

“I’m the felon and I’m not the cool one?” the brunette turned to the amused blonde dressed in a simple dusty rose colored cashmere sweater she had paired nicely with a pair of tight fitting jeans that were a surprising change from her usual mom jeans type. “Tam-Tam?”

“Lou has motorcycles,” she responded simply, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. “Wheels before hoes...or something like that.”

“I’m uncool _and_ a hoe,” Debbie muttered. “Some day this is turning out to be.”

“You’ll live,” the young wife returned with a sarcastic smile.

“You promised me lunch,” Constance suddenly chimed from her spot on the stage across the couch. “Mom, I’m hungry.”

Debbie resisted the urge to stamp her foot childishly, “Oh, and that! That. Why am I mom? Tammy is the mom, go whine to her.”

Constance looked from the smooth felon, who was openly scowling now then to the sweet housewife who wore a serene look on her face. The corner of one lip curled up, “Like, I can’t have three moms?” she said in a tone that left the _duh_ part more than a little implied.

Debbie raised an eyebrow at Tammy, “Let’s kill her and tell Lou she broke her neck doing a wheelie.”

Unaffected by the threat, the skater laughed, “Like she’d believe that!”

The dark haired maven gave her unaffected blonde counterpart a long suffering look, “I know I used to instill the fear of God in people. I remember.”

“You still do, sweetie,” Tammy cooed, “This one just knows you too well. You’d never let anything happen to one of Lou’s favorites.”

Debbie snorted derisively just as the other girl choked out an affronted, _“One of?!”_

“Hate to break it to you, kid,” the gifted fence smirked. “You’re not an only child.”

“Yeah, but I’m the favorite,” the younger one bared her teeth playfully, tugging her black and bright neon green skateboard to her side. 

Ever the quintessential Queens kid with a penchant for getting around on a board with four small wheels, Constance was dressed in a gray shirt underneath a black leather jacket—most likely influenced by Lou to some extent—and a pair of ripped jeans and black DC skateboard shoes with the prerequisite knit beanie piled on top of her head. So far, despite the upgraded living arrangements and some thirty million stashed away, she had pretty much stayed the same, complete with never being one to say no to free meals and some light pick-pocketing now and then—just to keep her senses sharp. 

“I think Leslie, Veronica and Amita will have a problem with that,” Tammy pointed out after a beat, a thoughtful look creasing her brow ever so slightly. “And maybe Daphne.”

“Amita is in Paris and the paps said Daphne is, like, in China to promote makeup or some shit,” the blessedly light-fingered boarder snorted. “I’m the one here with the moms. I think that makes me the favorite.”

“The uncultured one is the favorite?” Debbie teased lightly.

“I think you mean Korea,” Tammy pointed out. “She was named as a brand ambassador for a Korean cosmetics company.”

“Yeah, well, one of them places. And you say uncultured, I say awesomely loyal,” Constance puffed proudly. “I’m watching over the moms while Lou is away. Like, if that doesn’t make me the favorite...”

“We need watching over?” Tammy tilted her head to the side. “I thought it was the other way around?”

“Yeah, you’d think that but nah.”

“Well, don’t get too comfortable,” Debbie hummed. “Amita is due back any day now and she’s already given us a head’s up about bunking here while she figures out what to tell her mother.” She smirked, “And Lou likes her blueberry pancakes.”

The younger woman looked scandalized, “Hey! Why can’t I move in too?”

“Because you have your own place,” Tammy pointed out, this time it was her turn to imply the _duh_ in her statement.

The Asian’s eyes were as wide as they could go, “Yeah, but I totally would have moved in if I knew that was, like, an option, man!”

“It wasn’t,” Debbie smirked.

“Hey, isn’t Leslie home already?” Tammy asked suddenly, her head bobbing lightly. “Actually, aren’t they all due back around the same time?”

“Kind of?” Constance offered. “I think Rose is here somewhere...err, doing fashion stuff? She was pretty pumped about the designs she came up with and hey, it looked kinda dope. And Nine got back like three days ago but she said don’t bother her until she comes around because she wants to get some sleep.”

“Oh, it would have been nice to have her join us for lunch,” the blonde hummed lightly, her fingers brushing at the thin black headband she wore in her hair.

“I’m starting to feel like I’m not your favorite,” Constance said with a slightly accusatory tinge in her voice. “Eh?”

“Can’t get anything past you,” Debbie chuckled dryly.

“Now you’re just trying to be mean,” she pouted a little at the two women.

“She’s just teasing you,” Tammy said kindly. “So, how was MIT? Did she say?”

“V loved every minute of it. Nine had to drop like six Gs for the program for some robotics class and some shit,” Constance shrugged. “Little sis is delirious so she’d drop whatever cash it took to get.”

Tammy nodded, “Leslie did mention Veronica applied back in January before she even knew about any jobs coming her way.”

“Well, V is a good kid and freakishly smart so Nine’d rob a bank if she had to.”

Debbie smirked, “She kind of did so I’d say that worked out pretty well.”

All three shared a proud conspiratorial grin and left it at that.

“Okay, so what are we going for today?” Debbie asked, “Anybody in the mood for something specific? Fusion? Asian? Italian...?”

“Yes,” Constance said quickly and simply shrugged when that earned her an eye roll. “_What?_ I’m hungry. Like I’m freaking starving.”

Tammy smothered a laugh behind her hand and took her phone out with the other, “Let’s see what’s closest...there’s a couple good places near here that opens for lunch.”

Debbie nodded, checking her bag quickly to make sure she had the keys to the door to avoid any issues when they returned. She really didn’t want to be the one to explain to Lou why she had to have Constance break into their own building to get them back inside.

“There’s a Mexican food truck like five blocks away,” Constance mumbled.

“We can’t just drop by on a food truck and go somewhere else,” Tammy insisted politely. “I’d like to eat at an actual restaurant with actual food.”

“But I’m hungry now.”

“You sound like my five year old,” Tammy laughed lightly. “They’ll have bread. Or appetizers. There’s a Greek restaurant not too far away. Come on. I’ll drive.”

“But you drive like a mom.”

“That’s because I _am_ a mom.”

Debbie snorted at that, “Yeah...I wouldn’t go challenging Tam-Tam on the driving thing, kid.”

“What? Blondie over here?”

“I resent that label.”

“But you _are_ blonde.”

“Not in that tone, I’m not.”

Debbie shook her head, “I’m telling you. Don’t poke the bear. Tammy did a lot of crazy shit before she turned into a Stepford.” She laughed under her breath, “You think Lou likes fast cars? You should see _blondie_ behind the wheel of a semi.”

Constance’s eyes widened, “Wait, what...?”

“She’s kidding,” Tammy shot a look at Debbie and waved her keys at the kid. “Come on, the sooner we get to the restaurant, the sooner you eat.” She motioned towards a couple of open windows, “Why don’t you lock up? Then we can leave. Go on, make sure the back doors are locked.”

“Oh, right, yeah. Let’s go! I’m hungry!” eagerly jumping from her perch on the stage and leaving her board behind, she set off to do as she’d been tasked if only to get to the food faster.

Often glad that her usual tactics to distract her children seemed to work just as well on the young pickpocket, Tammy let the younger one move ahead of her while shooting her old friend a dark look and waved a finger in her direction. Debbie merely smiled wickedly, snatching her hand away playfully and waggled her perfectly groomed eyebrows in return.

Tammy snatched her hand away, standing up and adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder and followed her sometime partner towards the doors leading out of the main floor of the area. They stood not too far from each other, sharing a smile in silent communication as they waited for the skateboarder. 

Unlike her infamous brother, Debbie had never been for large groups, not really. But the constant presence of the newly minted YouTuber, who tended to find her way home more to the converted building that served as Lou and Debbie’s residence than her overpriced apartment, things had not been as unpleasant as Debbie imagined it would be. 

At first it had been puzzling, to some extent she had equaled the younger woman’s comings and goings to that of a stray that had been fed once too often and somehow just decided it found it’s home but with the absence of Lou, it had become a welcome intrusion. For the most part, Constance tended to go off on her own, still haunting her old grounds and still doing her tricks and bits down where Lou had first brought Debbie to see her. She roamed the city on her wheels and on the trains, shooting her videos and doing lord knows what but often still stumbled home to their home near the docks. Sometimes she’d have food with her, sometimes she’d pester Debbie until she’d relent to having something delivered.

Tammy, who had done a marvelous job obtaining a couple of warehouses not too far from where they lived to start her own legitimate business, would come by often too. As per Debbie’s parole requirements which included a permanent residence, she was also expected to have some form of existing employment complete with a paper trail. And with Tammy setting up shop in the city, it had been the perfect solution to that particular problem. 

On paper, Debbie Ocean was a certified paid employee of one Tammy McDeere, complete with benefits and all the bells and whistles any model citizen would have. It was the perfect setup, one that was highly approved by her straitlaced parole officer. Debbie didn’t do shit, of course, but any legitimacy to this reentry into society was welcome as long as it kept her out of the slammer.

And with her husband off to on a business trip out of the country for his company and having taken her children to see her parents in California where she’d left them for the summer—they loved mommy very much but Disneyland was the absolute dream—Tammy definitely had more time these days to visit Debbie which was more than alright with her. She had yet to catch a glimpse of this elusive husband, but she had actually met Tammy’s children before she took them to California and she’d been pleasantly surprised that they were kind of sweet when properly fed.

“Okay, the place is locked up tight—now, come on!” Constance declared and made a beeline for her board where she left it. She turned to face the women though her attention seemed to be mostly on the blonde, “So, you guys really thinking about moving to the city?”

Tammy’s eyes widened ever so slightly with surprise, “We’re considering it...the city has some of the best schools in the country and with our warehouse being here, it’s something worth considering.”

“Having you and the little kiddos here would be dope,” Constance offered casually. “I’d babysit for free and come on...don’t you get bored in the middle of all that McPerfect-ness?”

Debbie snorted, which earned her a scowl from her longtime friend. She raised her hands up with a smirk, “Hey, I didn’t say anything...”

“It’s not so bad,” Tammy returned a little weakly, crossing her arms across her chest. “Connecticut is lovely and it’s safer than the city...and we were just starting a family when we moved there.”

“Yeah, but it’s, like, so boring,” Constance made a face. “Like, dude. What do you do there?”

“Take care of my kids,” Tammy said, frowning. “And our house. I have two kids under the age of six. And we have fresh air there.”

“And she sells stolen goods on the side,” Debbie muttered only to let out an ‘oof’ when Tammy elbowed her none too gently. 

“It really isn’t as bad as you think,” Tammy said a little loudly, talking over her suddenly mouthier friend. “When you have a family, it’s a nice place to call home.”

“Are you saying you like living in Perfect McPerfectown?” dark challenging eyebrows rose, “’cause who you kidding, blondie? You bought warehouses here like two seconds after we snatched those babies off Kluger’s neck so try tellin’ me you ain’t dying to get outta there.”

“I looked into locations here and back there,” Tammy explained primly. “They had available spaces here. If I waited, I’d have been delayed six months or so.”

“And you needed the garage space,” Debbie prodded with a laugh. “Seriously, Tam-tam. Your husband really bought the eBay thing?”

“Is eBay still even a thing?” Constance frowned. “Like, damn. Isn’t that place crawling with freaks and pervs like Craigslist or somethin’?”

Tammy shrugged, “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. Anyway, aren’t we supposed to be going to lunch?”

“Now she remembers,” Debbie muttered just as Constance began to grouse about being hungry again, tapping her stomach childishly. She shot a look at the blonde, “See what you did?”

“I’m kind of hungry too,” Tammy admitted sheepishly as they started to make their way down the short walk towards the main doors of the building. “And this is my first Saturday without the kids or work so I’m kind of looking forward to this.”

“Awesome,” Constance was practically vibrating energy as she bounced along. “We’re totally taking your ride, right? Because them new wheels you got is lit, moms.”

Tammy shared a sheepish grin, “I couldn’t resist. My old one needed to be replaced and Chris was more than happy not to think about what to buy me for my birthday.”

“If this dude’s loaded why’d you bother robbing shit?” Constance wondered out loud.

“He’s not loaded...” Tammy scratched the inside of one wrist self-consciously with her perfectly manicured nails.

“I’ve seen your house,” the younger woman rolled her eyes. “Who needs seven bedrooms?”

“How do—did you case the joint?”

“Well, duh...?”

“Of course, you did.”

“You let me in, you didn’t think I’d snoop?” she smirked. “By the way, you have the most boring bedside table. Like, seriously. Who keeps baby aspirin in a bedside table?”

The blonde pouted slightly, “I have two kids.”

“And seven bedrooms.”

“Because I _have two kids_.”

“Are you having three more?” Constance asked which prompted Debbie into choking out a laugh as Tammy’s eyes widened with horror.

“Oh, my god, _no_,” her brown eyes seemed to fill with panic. “I can barely manage two kids. Why would I have more?” 

She shrugged lazily, “I don’t know, seven bedrooms?” 

“We have home offices too, you know. And guest bedrooms...for guests.”

“Your husband does have a home office but that’s not even part of the seven bedrooms I counted,” Constance pointed out. “So, what? You have five guest rooms? You running a B&B in there? ‘cause that’ll go well with the crap full of stolen shit you got going in your garage—which, you also practically stole, by the way ‘cause damn, girl, there’s zero space for a car there.”

“Wh—didn’t anybody teach you snooping is rude?”

“So is stealing...and come to think, moms, you steal, like, _a lot_,” Constance scratched her chin mockingly. “Maybe they was right about you.”

Tammy let out a sigh, “Right about what?”

“You steal for fun because you're bored.”

“I don’t...steal,” Tammy defended weakly. “I move goods. It’s...different.”

Constance frowned, “But, again, you’re loaded.”

“We’re not,” Tammy insisted. “Chris has his work. I have mine...mine just happens to be a little, hmm, unconventional.”

“Ocean says you used to hijack trucks on the freeway.”

“What, no, I—jeez, Debbie!”

“What? You did,” the slender brunette waved a dismissive hand. “And she has a point. That house is massive, Tam-Tam. Can’t blame the kid for thinking you were already loaded before the thing.” 

“You didn’t think to clear that up?”

“Was I supposed to? _I_ don’t even know the full story—”

Tammy sputtered, “There is no story!”

“Okay, okay. Fine,” Debbie turned to Constance and started to explain in a dry voice, “Tam-Tam’s beloved but adorably oblivious husband has a very good job that pays very well, but you see, Tam-Tam never stopped being a criminal and lied to hubby about doing really well on eBay to explain how she was pulling in so much money too. So yes, they have money but that’s because Tam-Tam is actually a lunatic who likes to play chicken with unsuspecting smugglers along deserted highways for shits and giggles because she just happens to be a very good criminal.” She turned to face the blonde and gave her a look that simply asked _are you happy now?_

Tammy opened her mouth then closed it before rolling her eyes and shaking her head, “Fine! Fine. Yes, Constance. Suburbia—as boring as it may seem to you city slickers—is a very good cover for criminal activity. No one ever suspects the sweet housewife in the mom jeans and the minivan.”

Processing the information that had been shared, Constance thought for a moment before nodding slowly with a grin, “I getcha...cool. But what about the sweet housewife with the mom jeans and the Range Rover?”

Throwing her head back lightly, Tammy laughed and let her soft honey hued curls bounce as they headed out together, “She’s the one everyone wants to smash over the head with a blender.”

Constance joined in on her laughter and followed behind both women as Tammy pushed the doors open to exit the building. She’d been so distracted by their conversation, she barely had time to catch the door before almost smacking the other person approaching from the other side.

“Oh!” Tammy gasped, seeing a short dark haired girl jump back just as she pulled the door away. “I’m so sorry, we didn’t—oh, hey, uhm...April, right? From Lou’s club?”

The younger woman straightened up, smiling nervously for a moment as she nodded. “Yes, uhm. Hi. I am..yeah. I mean. I work for Lou...?”

“Yeah, at the club,” Tammy repeated as she backed into the threshold slightly. “You already know Debbie—” she motioned towards the brunette who was now standing beside her then the vague direction behind her, “and this is Constance.” 

A faint ‘hey’ was heard from behind both women and Tammy gave the young bartender a reassuring smile, “Lou’s not back yet but she will be in a couple of days.”

“Oh, right, I know,” April bit her bottom lip. “It’s just that she was supposed to check in last night like she does every Friday but she didn’t and it wouldn’t really be a problem except last night Bill said the Fire Marshall is supposed to come by Sunday night to drop in, you know? Like they do? And Lou usually takes care of that but she’s not here and she didn’t really tell us what we’re supposed to do...so, I was wondering maybe you guys know how to reach her?”

Tammy glanced at Debbie, biting the inside of her cheek. “Oh, yeah. That. Is this one of those surprise inspections or something...?”

“Can’t be much of a surprise if they’re being warned,” Constance muttered from behind.

Debbie shot the young woman a look before turning to April, “You tried calling Lou?”

“Yeah, since last night,” April answered. “Have you guys heard from her?”

“We have, but Lou doesn’t check in every day,” Tammy answered, frowning slightly. “Not on road trips like these. I spoke to her four days ago and she said she was heading home.” She turned to Debbie, “What about you?”

“She sent me a text three days ago,” Debbie answered easily. “Con?”

“Uh, she sent me a snap like around that time too—some dinky diner somewhere she was making a stop,” she piped in. “I’ve been sending some videos but...” she took her phone out and started checking her own messages. “She hasn’t opened them, I guess.”

Debbie frowned, “Lou can’t have been out of range for three days. I mean, it’s 2018 for crying out loud. Everywhere has a signal.”

Tammy nodded, glancing around outside before motioning towards April, “Why don’t you come inside for now, April? We’ll see about reaching Lou and find out what she wants to do about the marshall.”

“Okay,” the girl nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. “I’m sorry to bother you guys but Lou left the club with me in charge and I don’t want to get her in trouble and disappoint her, ya know?”

“Completely understandable,” Tammy answered gently. “I’m sure Lou just...forgot to check her phone or something. Debbie will call her. She’d answer Debbie’s call in the middle of a hurricane.”

“Can we have some food delivered?” Constance asked quietly as they made their way. “How’s Chinese sound, huh? Chinese would really hit the spot right now.”

“Sure, Con,” Tammy said distractedly. “Just make sure you ask April what she’d like too.” 

Tammy led the two younger women back inside but she couldn’t help shooting Debbie a worried look as she took her own phone out. Debbie tried to brush her off but she couldn’t help the dark look that passed over her features as the sound of a ringing phone reached her ears. Once the call slipped into voicemail, she frowned, turning her back on the doors as she closed it behind her with a click of a lock. She made sure all three women were out of sight before she tried to call once more, unable to stop her heart from beating just a little bit faster when the call slipped into voicemail again. 

“Hey, Lou. It’s me...”


	2. angels choking on their halos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all chapter titles are borrowed from from Fall Out Boy's music, specifically their album "Save Rock and Roll".

## angels choking on their halos 

“Hey, anything?”

Debbie looked up, brushing her hair back from her face as Tammy moved to stand next to her in front of the sink. They both turned their backs on the two younger women in the sitting area who were having an easy conversation while eating some Chinese takeout. She tried not to jump to conclusions but seeing the flash of worry on Debbie’s face that she was trying to hide, she couldn’t help but feel the alarm bells going off.

“Uh, I left a couple of messages...but she could be on the road or something,” Debbie said quietly. “Her last text was three days ago.”

Tammy bit her bottom lip, “She told me she was making good time and couldn’t wait to get back here.”

“She said the same thing to me,” Debbie said, frowning slightly. “Lou gets a little distracted sometimes when she’s on the road but three days?”

Tammy nodded, “Yeah...I know.” She ran a hand through her hair—she’d long slipped off the thin headband she’d been wearing earlier. “But she’s gotta be okay, right? I mean, it’s Lou...”

“Yes, but what if she got into an accident or something?” Debbie shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest, her fingers curling around her phone in a death grip. “Those motorcycles are goddamned death traps.”

“I’m sure she’s alright but,” Tammy glanced at Constance and April over her shoulder. “Maybe we should call Leslie? She can track phones, right? If we have some idea of where Lou might be maybe we can figure out if she’s out of range or something?”

“She should be able to do that,” Debbie’s shoulders lifted slightly as she straightened her spine. “I mean, that’d be easy for her, right?”

“Yeah,” the blonde nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. “Let me give her a call. Try reaching Lou again. I’ll see if Leslie’s awake.” 

Tammy pulled her phone out from her pocket and began scrolling through her contacts for the number she needed. She gave Debbie’s hand a quick squeeze before turning away from her and taking a seat on the poker table that also tended to double as the dining table and took a seat, pressing her phone to her ear as she kept an eye on the two girls across the room.

From behind her, Debbie ignored the urge to slam her phone against the sink as her call was redirected once more to voicemail. She’d been consistently trying to reach Lou’s phone for the last half hour since April had arrived at their doorstep. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling that had been gnawing at her since the first attempt at contact she made but Debbie had been tamping it down. It wasn’t unusual for Lou to be unreachable on these trips but three days was a long time and even Lou wasn’t that bad at keeping in contact. Even while she was in jail, Lou still managed to stay in contact during times when Debbie didn’t have a phone.

And the fact that Lou always answered Debbie’s calls didn’t escape the silently agitated gifted criminal. She couldn’t remember a time when Lou didn’t pick up and that alone was enough to send Debbie’s heart out of her chest. Radio silence during jobs, she could understand, but in times like these? It was out of character for the Australian maverick.

“Leslie says she’ll call back,” Tammy said, pulling Debbie out of her reverie. “She was a little grumpy about being woken up but she said she’d get right on it.”

Debbie nodded stiffly, “I don’t remember the exact date Lou was supposed to be back in the city.”

“She only gave me a vague timeline, but if I’m remembering these trips and I’m sure I do—they tend to run on their own schedule,” Tammy said with a slight curl in the corners of her lip as she leaned back against the sink, crossing her arms across her stomach.

“You should eat,” Debbie motioned towards the sitting area. “You said you were hungry.”

“I’m fine,” Tammy waved a dismissive hand absently as her eyes wandered the space that so very much belonged to the icy blonde they were trying to reach. “I’m kind of worried Constance might actually come up short so I’ll wait and see what the damage is to the food before jumping in.”

Debbie snorted lightly, “That girl can eat.”

“I swear if she wasn’t so obviously Asian I’d think she was really Lou’s,” Tammy muttered, unable to help but smile at the thought. 

Debbie couldn’t help the wide grin that broke out of her face, “I think hearing that might actually make Lou proud.”

Tammy chuckled, “I think so too.” She opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone, “It’s Leslie.”

“Put her on speaker but keep it down,” Debbie instructed and Tammy nodded, doing exactly as she instructed and the two women crowded over the phone together.

“Hey, Leslie—I’ve got Debbie with me,” Tammy answered lightly.

“Of course—hey boss,” came the smooth tones over the lines. “So...what’re you two smoking and why aren’t you bitches sharing?”

“What are you talking about?” Tammy frowned, her eyes meeting Debbie’s in confusion. “Did you find anything on Lou?”

“Das what I’m getting at,” Nine Ball answered with a slight huff. “You shits really makin’ me track Lou in New York?”

Tammy frowned, sharing a look with Debbie, “What? No, Lou isn’t—”

“She’s not in the city but she’s definitely in the state,” Nine Ball cut in easily. “She’s in the Catskills. Or at least, her phone’s pingin’ from there.”

“Why would she be in Catskills?” Debbie wondered. “Are you sure?”

“Are you really asking me that? Boo, I’m looking at it right now.”

“That can’t be...Lou would’ve told us if she was close to home,” Tammy said quietly. “She hasn’t called anyone...not even Debbie.”

“I don’t know...maybe she decided to come back early?” Nine Ball offered. “And you know, made a stop to do some campin’ and shit.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Lou alright,” Debbie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes slightly. “In any case, if you’re sure it’s Lou then we can ask her ourselves, I suppose.”

Nine Ball’s dry laughter flowed through the lines seamlessly, “After you drag her skinny ass back to the city, yeah?”

“Yes,” Debbie nodded thoughtfully. “Can you send Tammy the location? We can just go get her. Her club manager needs her to deal with something.”

“Yeah, Tammy told me,” the hacker said dryly. “Already sent it. Tell Lou she owes me and I don’t come cheap. Gonna be needin’ some new ‘wares for my system.”

“The same girl who literally has eight figures in the bank?”

A derisive laugh, “It’s cute that you think it’s in a bank.”

“Didn’t really, but I’ll pass the message on,” Debbie said with a smirk, “Thank you, Nine Ball.”

“Yes, thank you, Leslie,” Tammy added with a smile. 

“Anytime, baby mama,” the kind words came easily through the line and the call was swiftly ended.

“Baby mama?” Debbie repeated, raising an eyebrow at the blonde who wore a huge grin on her face. “And how come you get to call her Leslie and your don’t get your head bitten off?”

Tammy smirked, “I don’t question her on her home life nor do I pressure her on her need for privacy.”

“Ah, of course,” Debbie nodded, glancing at the phone between them. “Got the location?”

“Got it,” she nodded after a quick check. “Any idea why Lou would be in the Catskills?”

“I don’t know,” the brunette answered honestly, “But it definitely isn’t for camping.”

“Thought as much,” Tammy tilted her head to the side. “So, I guess we’re going for a drive?”

“Looks like it,” Debbie glanced at the sitting area once more, “What’re the chances we can sneak out back and leave the kid here?”

“And have her burn down the place while we’re gone?” the blonde chuckled. “I think I’d rather take my chances with two hours in a moving vehicle with Con than having Lou string us up by our toes.”

Debbie winced, “Yeah...that’s, hmm, yeah.”

Tammy smiled, “I’ll make sure to pack some snacks.”

“That kid is a bottomless pit,” the slender brunette muttered. “How is she so skinny?”

“Sheer dumb luck,” Tammy laughed as she headed off to inform Constance about their plans and started mentally listing off things they were going to need for their impromptu trip.

Debbie smiled, shaking her head slightly and glancing at the screen of her phone once more.

“What are you up to, Lou?”

o0o

“I’m sorry, but is she actually singing about her vagina?”

Tammy laughed out loud, glancing at the rear view mirror to check on Constance who was currently munching on some animal cookies—those were really for her kids but it seemed to work for her too no problem—and singing along to something she was listening to in her headphones. The girl was oblivious to the world as she sat in the back listening to what she called her beats.

“I think she is,” the blonde answered. “She let me listen to that song once. It’s catchy.”

“Singing about her vagina,” the dark haired maven frowned. “That’s music?”

“It’s actually pretty good,” Tammy shrugged. “And Constance listens to anything and everything. She adores Lou’s collection—they were listening to some Fleetwood Mac last time, I think?”

Debbie glanced at the girl behind them, smirking a little, “She might actually be right.”

Tammy glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, “Who? Constance? About what?”

“She really might just be Lou’s favorite.”

The woman behind the wheel laughed once more, her eyes bright as she kept them on the road. They were almost to where Nine Ball had set their destination to, something Tammy had been able to easily program into her GPS and the drive had been smooth. Debbie checked her watch, not at all surprised to see that they had actually managed to cut their driving time by considerably a lot but she doubted Constance noticed at all. 

She had started the drive quite excited but after a bit of time on the road and after exiting the main areas of the city, she’d managed to calm down considerably with some crackers and a drink. Tammy had sternly made the younger woman promise to keep the backseat clean and so far, she’d done a good job sticking to that, something the mother of three appreciated immensely.

Every now and then, Debbie still tried to call Lou’s number but never once got farther than her voicemail. Though she had been worried before, knowing where Lou was and seeing how close they were to getting there, Debbie was beginning to feel her body release some tension just a little. She’d demand for some form of explanation from Lou about her sudden radio silence but seeing she was okay and actually being in the same room once more was a top priority.

“She looked good, you know,” Tammy started after a moment. “When the kids and I stopped by to see her in Venice Beach.”

The corner of Debbie’s lips curled up, “Oh, yeah, you guys dropped in on her, huh?”

“Yeah, we did—the kids loved everything there and Lou took them _everywhere_,” Tammy smiled fondly, brushing her hair back from her face. “She still can’t tan for shit but she looked good.”

“Lou always wanted to try getting a bit of tan,” Debbie snorted. “You’d think after growing up in Australia she’d have figured it out. Nope. Always ends up looking like a boiled lobster anyway.”

Tammy laughed, “Yeah, she forgot sunscreen one time. My precocious little boy had to point out she looked like a melted slurpee.”

Debbie smirked, “Kids do say the darnedest things.”

“You’ll have to have Leslie do something about your phone later, by the way,” Tammy said, glancing at her with a slight crease along her eyebrows.

“What for?”

“Uh, I think your parole requirements include you not fleeing the state,” the blonde pointed out carefully. “Right?”

Debbie frowned, “How do you even know that?”

“I looked into it,” Tammy shrugged. “I thought about asking you to leave your phone but I talked to Leslie about it. She said she can fix it, no problem.”

Debbie raised an eyebrow at her, “I’m still within the state.”

Tammy gave her a look, “Pretty sure you’re supposed to inform your parole officer if you’re traveling more than one hour away from your location.”

“Stalker much?” the dark haired beauty teased lightly. “You never change, do you, Tam-Tam?”

“You better hope not,” Tammy smirked. “Who else is gonna watch your back when Lou’s not around?”

The two women shared a smile just as the GPS started to ping. Tammy frowned, looking around to what was ahead of them on the road. She slowed the car down a little and took the turn she was being directed to take. 

Debbie frowned, looking around as well, “Wait...this is where Nine Ball wants us to go?”

“Uh, hold on,” Tammy swiped at the screen between them, glancing at her phone and biting her bottom lip. She placed her phone back in the console and checked the rear view and side mirrors, noticing then just how scarce the cars on the road were. It wasn’t even mid-afternoon yet and there were barely any cars around and it looked as if the GPS was telling them to go down an empty dirt road.

“Uh, guys?” Constance piped from the backseat, unsnapping her seat belt and squeezed her torso between the front seats. “Where are we?”

“Tammy?”

“We’re on the right track, not too far from the location Leslie pinged,” the blonde answered, driving on though in a considerably slower pace. 

Debbie looked around, “This looks like nowhere.”

“This looks like the Blair Witch project,” the skateboarder said in a low voice, squinting her eyes slightly. “Dude, this place looks hella creepy. Like, we’re not staying here until dark, right?”

“We’re just coming to get Lou,” Tammy said calmly, glancing at the screen of the console once more. So far, they seemed to be on the right track and the map was showing her they were very close.

Constance bit the inside of her cheek, “What’s Lou even doing here?”

“We don’t know,” Debbie answered honestly. “But whatever it is, I’m sure Lou has a good explanation for it. Tammy, are we there yet?”

“Uh, almost,” she answered with a frown, turning a wheel when the map directed her to take one last turn, this time in a muddy road. “Looks like we’re here.”

All three women looked up, catching sight of what remained of what was once probably a wooden fence only there were only a few dark pieces of wooden left standing, worn and darkened from age. There was a large gap between the remnants of the fence large enough fort their vehicle to pass through, the wheels trudging along the muddy ground. Tammy drove along the trail, following the tire tracks that she could see which seemed to lead to an old wooden structure just up ahead.

It looked like a small house, quite old and worn just like the fence with the windows darkened as if they were boarded up or covered with something. The wooden door, covered remnants of peeling white paint was closed and a few feet away on the side of the shack was a wooden stump with pieces of chopped wood scattered all around.

Tammy thought for a brief moment that this was probably the last place in the world she’d ever imagine finding Lou. The gifted chameleon was not any kind of a snob but she knew very well the towering blonde was definitely not the type to do any type of camping or roughing it in the woods. It had to be something extraordinary for whatever it might be that would bring Lou here, she decided.

“Well, this place isn’t getting any less creepy at all,” Constance said, breaking the sudden silence within the vehicle.

Tammy glanced at Debbie, biting her bottom lip, “If this is Lou’s idea of a joke...”

“It’s not funny,” the dark haired woman answered, her eyes staring intently at the shack they were approaching. “Just stop here. Let’s see what the hell Lou’s up to now.”

The blonde stopped the across from the shack, killing the engine then glanced at Constance who had her skateboard clutched to her chest. She glanced quickly at the glove compartment then at Debbie who was already getting out of the car, uncaring that her high heeled boots were sinking just ever so slightly in the moist ground.

“Should we have some kind of weapon or something?” Constance asked, tugging at Tammy’s sweater as she opened her car door.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” she answered, flashing her a small smile. “But, uh, bring your skateboard.”

Constance watched her go then looked down at her board, her blunt short nails scratching against its surface for a moment. She shook her head and pulled her beanie down tighter around her head and jumped out of the car and followed the two women just as they reached the front door of the shack.

Debbie looked at Tammy, taking a short breath before rapping her knuckles against the worn wood. Up close, it looked even older and weathered but the sound her knuckles made against it was solid and loud. When there was no answer, Debbie shook her head and reached for the doorknob and turned it before anyone could say anything.

The door swung open, revealing a darkened room and none of them made a move to step into the strange place.

“Lou?” Debbie called out just as Tammy pulled her phone from her pocket and turned on the flashlight, shining it into the place. “Hello? Anyone in here?”

“Guys—” Constance started, halting when the blonde grabbed her hand as they walked into the shack.

“Hey, anybody in here?” Tammy said loudly, lifting her phone slightly to shed more light on their path.

The room wasn’t entirely dark but the only source of light was just the door they’d left open. It was still relatively early in the day to let light in but moving further into the windowless, stifling shack was not something the women would dare do in darkness.

So far, it looked like they were just in an empty room. Five or so steps in, they were yet to encounter any furniture or anything. The place looked simply empty and abandoned, further puzzling trio as they stood in the empty space.

“She’s not here, guys, let’s just—”

Debbie shushed Constance, pulling out her own phone and pressed to call Lou’s mobile number once more. She didn’t bother pressing the device to her ear and instead, waited to see if they would hear it from where they stood. 

“Can you hear that?” Tammy asked in a low voice.

“That’s Lou’s phone,” Debbie replied. “It’s here.”

“What the hell is it doing here?” Constance asked, gripping Tammy’s hand tightly. “I can’t see it anywhere...can you?”

“It’s so dark, we should be seeing it light up from anywhere,” Tammy said nervously. “Unless it’s covered or something.”

“Constance, take you phone out and light up,” Debbie instructed. “I can hear it. It should be here somewhere...”

“But it’s so faint,” Tammy said, letting go of Constance’s hand to let her get a hold of her own phone. “This place is so small. We shouldn’t have a problem finding it.”

“Maybe it’s outside?”

“No, it’s in here,” Debbie said firmly. “Let’s just find the damned thing and go.”

She moved further into the shack, turning her phone’s flashlight before making the same call once more. Tammy moved towards the right side, motioning for Constance to go left. There wasn’t much to search—at most the place was probably the size of the living room of Lou’s place. They walked around, moving their phones to light their way as they went, their footsteps the only sound other than the faint ring.

“This place is empty,” Constance muttered, “There isn’t even a—whoa!”

She practically jumped out of her skin when a couple of light bulbs suddenly lit up overhead. It didn’t completely light the place up but it provided enough light to see around the room without having needing a flashlight. Constance turned in place so fast, she almost tripped and found Tammy standing next to a switch. She had been so surprised and freaked out, she held the skateboard in front of her like it was some kind of a weapon.

The younger woman waved her hand at the blonde, “Dude, what—fuck, you scared the shit out of me!” 

“I’m sorry, I wanted to see if it worked,” Tammy said, catching Debbie at the very end of the room, looking as serious as ever, holding her phone as she looked around. “This place is empty.”

“Yeah,” Constance answered, scratching the back of her head through the beanie.

“The ringing stopped,” Tammy pointed out. “Try it again, Deb. At least we have light now.”

Debbie did as she asked and the women stayed in place, trying very hard to listen for the source of the sound. It was definitely not in the room, but it was somewhere close by. Constance looked around, frowning and kicking at something that might be a piece of cloth or a rag.

“Wait,” Tammy said after a moment, moving near the back of the room where Debbie was then suddenly dropped to her knees on the wooden floors. 

Constance looked at Debbie, “Dude, what—”

Tammy ignored her, placing one palm on the ground and grabbed her hair, moving it to one side of her head before dropping her exposed ear next to her hand on the floor. She shot up, smacking her hand against the wood and looked up at Debbie with surprise, “Here!”

“What?” Debbie said, dropping on her knees as well and placed her ear close to the floor. After a moment, she looked up, wide-eyed at Tammy. “I heard that.”

“It’s _under_ the floor?” Constance asked, dropping on her knees as well. “What the hell is Lou’s phone doing under the floor?”

“I don’t know but it’s there,” Tammy said, pulling her key ring from her pocket and started fiddling with it. What looked like a harmless rectangular plain black key chain dangling next to her key fob was immediately unfolded and rearranged into a small but sturdy looking black blade with her nimble fingers. She leaned down, extending the hand holding her phone low to light her way as she appeared to look for something. “Those boards are smaller than the rest,” she pointed out and dropped down to her knees, leaving the other two to follow her.

Tammy slipped the blade into the small space between the wooden floor slats and dug in, pushing the piece of metal upwards with a grunt. It took a couple of tries but the piece of the floor gave away, popping out of place easily.

“Whoa,” Constance said under her breath. “How’d that just happen?”

Tammy shined a light into the two inch-space that she’d uncovered and looked at Debbie, her mouth slightly parted and looked at the floor between them once more. She cleared her throat before saying quietly, “There’s something down there.”

“What? Other than the phone?” Debbie asked, holding her hair back and leaning down to peer into the small space they’d acquired. “What is it?”

“No, I don’t know what it is but there’s something there,” Tammy said, grabbing another slat and pulled until another piece of the floor came off again. “Call it again. Come on. Constance, help me.”

The younger one jumped into action, grabbing a slat after Tammy and pulled as well. Beside them, Debbie was on her phone trying to connect with Lou's number once more and hoped she hadn't drained the device's battery yet. She almost sighed as this time, the ringing phone was definitely louder and clearer.

“It’s in there!” Constance said excitedly, snatching a piece of the floor and practically stuck her head in. “I see it! It’s there!”

Debbie pocketed her phone, snatching a piece of wood as well and yanked hard. They kept ripping the floors up, revealing more and more what was underneath them, backing up as they went.

“What the hell are we opening? A hell mouth?” Constance grunted.

“Just keep going,” Tammy muttered, tossing a piece of wood to the side.

“I think...” Debbie grunted, pulling a particularly stubborn plank. “I see stairs.”

“Stairs?” Tammy stopped, puffing out a breath. So far, they’d opened up about a foot or so between them and the blonde got to her feet, carefully walking around the damaged they’d inflicted. She knelt beside Debbie, realizing the older woman had been right.

Just underneath them, Debbie had uncovered what looked like wooden stairs. Tammy glanced at her, frowning slightly. She shined a light into the dark hole, mentally counting the steps they could see—short of slipping her hand into the hole and getting more light in there, which she wasn’t willing to do yet, she counted four of five steps.

“It’s probably a basement or something?” Tammy said quietly.

“A literal hole in the ground with the steps covered up?” Constance asked dubiously. “What is this, Aladdin? Are we entering the Cave of Wonders?”

“It’s probably an underground access,” the blonde said thoughtfully. “Perfect hiding place.”

“For what?” Constance asked. “I mean, what’s Lou gotta hide from?”

Tammy gave Debbie an anxious look but the brunette simply gave her a stiff nod then grabbed another piece of wood and yanked hard. Tammy bit the inside of her cheek, glancing at Constance and motioned for her to move to their side. They worked to free up the space until they could seem more of the stairs to see what exactly they were dealing with.

Constance grabbed one more piece of wood, pulling hard only to find it seemed to be wedged in place. She frowned, yanking once more only to find the board was more stubborn than the others. She pulled and pulled, cursing under her breath when the plank refused to move even when the other two women came together to help pull as well.

“Okay,” Tammy huffed, dropping herself on her bottom as she let go of the wood. They stopped pulling when the tell-tale sounds of cracking began. “I think we have enough room to go down without a problem anyway.”

The steps were about four feet wide, attached to the wall on the right side of what they correctly assumed to be the basement. The light that came from the two yellow bulbs over head were not enough to give full coverage but they seemed to have removed enough pieces of the floor to let some light through down the steps.

“Uh, I’m not going down there,” Constance mumbled.

Debbie shared a look with Tammy, “Okay. You stay up here and be the look out.”

“Wait, what?” 

Tammy moved first, “We’ll have a quick look around and grab Lou’s phone. Place seems empty anyway. We should be fine.”

“I’m not staying up here alone,” the young Asian blurted out and tried to grab onto Tammy’s hand but the other two were already making their way down the steps. It took only about a beat before the younger woman was scrambling to follow, lighting her own way with her phone and trying not to trip and take them all tumbling down.

“Shit, what is this place?” Debbie muttered, keeping her shaky balance as she went down after Tammy who was using her phone to light their way. “Keep an eye out for a light switch again, huh?”

“Let’s hope we haven’t damaged any wiring with our surprise home improvements,” Tammy muttered. “We’re almost there.”

Debbie winced when she felt Constance latch onto her back, her fingers digging into one shoulder in a tight grip. “Ease up, Con. I wanna go down these stairs, not fly off them.”

“Uhuh,” the kid mumbled.

Debbie called Lou’s number again, keeping her eyes on the barely lit room. Tammy moved ahead, finding the bottom of the steps and began scanning the wall that met her to see if she could find another light switch. On the other side of the room, a phone lit up almost ominously and sliced through the eerie silence.

“There,” the brunette said, moving further into the room and switching her flashlight on. They’d only uncovered enough of the slats to let the light in around the stairs but not into the rest of the room which was the same size as the first floor.

The phone had been left on top of a long table covered with a dark cloth and Debbie swiped it easily, lifting the device up to her face and causing the sensors to light the screen up. She recognized the phone immediately when she saw her own name on the screen with alerts of all the calls she and April had been making the last twelve hours or so.

“Got it,” Debbie said just as Tammy let out a loud exclamation and the room was lit up as well. Somewhere still on the steps, Constance let out a grateful whoop.

Bright utility lighting lined the walls, leaving the room sufficiently brighter than the main floor of the small shack. Tammy dropped her hand from the switch and followed where Debbie had gone and stood next to her, eyeing the phone she held in one hand.

“That’s hers?” she asked, curious and a little apprehensive. Debbie nodded and the blonde looked around, “What is this place?”

“I don’t know,” Debbie shrugged, pocketing the phone and turned towards the stairs.

“This place...it’s just odd,” Tammy said, making no move to leave and turned to look at where the phone had been found. She eyed the heavy cloth, noticing that under the bright white lights it looked like it could be a deep mauve. Reaching forward, she touched the material lightly, noticing how it settled heavily against the ground where it pooled slightly.

“It gives me the creeps,” Debbie admitted. “Come on, Tam. We’ll figure out how to—”

She stopped abruptly when a strange sound startled them, groaning metal ominously filling the room. Debbie turned, looking at Tammy who looked just as confused as her and the blonde held her hands up as if to indicate she had nothing to do with what had just occurred. There was loud a metallic grunt then creaking followed by a steady sound of what seemed like gushing water.

“What’s that?” Constance asked, wide eyed and holding up her skateboard like a weapon once more.

“It sounds like running water?” Tammy said, unsure. She looked around, spotting the wall behind the table she stood in front of and noticed the large piping with a round heavy valve behind the clothed table. She moved around it to take a better look and immediately found where the pipe and the valve were connected, disappearing right into the heavy cloth. Frowning, she knelt down to examine it closer, “What the hell...?”

“What? Leave it alone, Tammy,” Debbie asked, sounding slightly impatient. “Let’s go.”

“No, wait, I just—” the blonde reached for the cloth she’d just been examining and suddenly yanked, only to let out a scream when she realized what had been under the cloth the whole time. She scrambled back, falling on her butt and ended up pulling the heavy cloth down with her. “Oh, my god. Debbie! Debbie! It’s Lou! Oh, my god! It’s Lou!”

“What are y—oh, god!” Debbie’s scream bounced against the walls.

As the cloth fell away, what they'd assume was a table turned out to be a glass box with thick metal framing that, to their horror, contained a terrified Lou Miller. The large pipe that ran up the wall and attached straight to the box was quickly filling it up with water, leaving the icy blonde trapped in what was essentially a glass coffin. 

Pale white fist smacked against the glass with very faint thumps, the gushing water drowning out the sound along with her screams as she kicked and punched at the glass. The three women immediately jumped, moving towards the box, wasting no time as they tried to get to their friend.

“Oh, shit...Constance help me!” Tammy screamed, running around the box and to the valve behind it to shut the water off while Debbie moved around the top of the box, trying to find a way to open it. Constance let out a small squeak, moving right behind Tammy and they both gripped valve together and began to try and turn it to shut the water line off.

“Fuck, oh god, Lou,” Debbie screamed, smashing her fist against the glass as she looked around, trying to find something that would open the box while also trying to see if there was anything in the room to use to break through. “We’re gonna get you out. Hold on!”

“It’s not moving!” Constance grunted. Tammy didn't even dare look at her, her hands gripping at the round metal and throwing her entire weight on it, “Keep trying, Constance!”

The younger woman groaned, “I’m trying but fuck, it’s not budging!” They kept trying to turn the valve until it gave, but not in the way they were hoping to go. The round piece of heavy metal popped straight out of it’s place and off it came, nearly knocking both women off balance. It clattered heavily on the ground as they dropped it, the clanging bouncing through the burst of chaos.

“Fuck,” Tammy whimpered, clutching her wrist where she had smashed it against the thick pipe and looked at the glass box which was now about a third full. Inside, Lou had her back to them, trying to kick her way out with her bare feet. She was dressed in a dirty white tank top and a pair of ripped up muddy jeans, her feet left bare and her hair matted. The water had completely soaked the tall blonde, leaving her clothes sticking to her like a second skin and every breath, every movement fueled by panic and adrenaline, could be seen under the fabric.

“It’s gonna be okay, Lou, we’re here,” Debbie was on her knees in front of her, practically out of her mind as she felt around the edges of the case. Her eyes would meet the frantic blues of her pale blonde partner’s every now and then, their terror mirroring each others quite clearly as they both tried to find a way out from both sides of the plane. “I can’t find any place where this opens! Help me!”

Tammy threw herself against the box from behind, trying to find a latch or anything that would open the case. She looked closely at the edges, trying to find a hinge or any sort of sign where the box might open and close. She let out a whimper when she noticed something on the edge of the top, the hard cold lumps of metal at the topside. “Deb—Debbie, god, it’s welded shut!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Debbie was nearly hysterical at that.

“Here!” Constance exclaimed, running against the box and started to smash her skateboard against it over and over again, trying to break through the glass.

Eyes wild, Tammy looked around the room, trying to find something that might help. She rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes, clearing her vision of the tears that had begun to gather. When there was nothing there, she looked back at Constance who was now sharing the board with Debbie as they tried to smash the piece of hard plastic against the surface. The board simply seemed to bounce against the glass, not even coming close to scratching it.

The room was filled with the sounds of Debbie’s panicked assurances and Constance’s incoherent rambling and grunting, leaving Tammy standing there and shaking.

It took a moment before she decided and with a sob, Tammy bolted for the stairs, ignoring the panicked calls of her friends for her to come back and help them as she raced back up to the main floor of the house, tripping halfway up and slamming her shin against a step. Swallowing a scream, she ignored the pain and kept running, heading straight out of the front door and fumbled with her key fob.

The trunk door opened just as she reached it and she all but jumped right inside, throwing herself to the very back where a black box lay. Tammy popped it open, letting out a puff of breath and pulled out a long black heavy crowbar from the box and scrambled back out quickly. With her heart in her throat, Tammy ran back into the house and thundered down the basement stairs where she was immediately met by Constance and Debbie as they screamed for Lou, still trying to find some way to get through.

“Move!” Tammy commanded, gripping the straight end of the heavy piece of metal and swung just as Constance rolled out of the way. The sound of metal meeting glass bounced against the walls and she didn’t wait before delivering another blow, letting out a grunt with each effort.

"We're getting you out, Lou," Debbie said, smacking her open hand against the glass. "It's gonna be okay, I promise. Lou, I swear. It's gonna be okay."

On the other side of the glass, there was barely a fourth of space left available and Debbie motioned for Lou to go to the other side as Tammy delivered one blow after another. They needed to get her out of the way in case the metal broke through to avoid injuring the trapped woman. It took no more than a few swings before cracks began to spread like spiderwebs with each blow and Constance egged Tammy on while Debbie kept Lou’s focus on her, doing everything she could to keep her calm and assure her.

“We’re getting you out, okay?” Debbie said, smiling tearfully as kept her palm flat against the glass. “Lou, it’s gonna be fine. You’re okay. I’m here. I’m right here.”

From behind the glass, Lou nodded as if she could understand every word, pressing her hand up against the glass as well.

Tammy let out a scream, smashing the curved end of the crow bar against the glass once more when she suddenly slipped, her knees smashing hard against the ground as gravity took hold the moment she lost her balance. The tumble stunned her for a moment, her shaking hand reaching for the badly damaged pane and carefully touched the cracks. Constance was beside her in an instant, taking the crow bar from her hand and took her position as she prepared to take over.

Tammy held up one shaking hand, “Wait.”

“What do you mean wait? Tammy, she’s running out of space!” Debbie demanded, her voice shrill with panic as she gestured towards the still intact pane. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Yeah, come on, move!” Constance growled, holding the crow bar up threateningly.

“It’s-it’s not working,” the blonde broke out. 

“What?” Debbie shrieked. “Tammy! What are you talking about?”

She let out a low keen, “It’s not working!”

“What do you mean it’s not working?” Debbie screamed, forcing herself to turn away from Lou to look at Tammy and see what she was talking about.

The water was nearly all the way up to the top of the box and Lou planted her feet on the bottom of the glass, keeping her head up and trying to breathe in what little oxygen was left. Her palm rested against the top of the glass, keeping herself in place as she tried her best to keep her body still.

“It’s not breaking!” Tammy screamed back, panic gripping her soul. “Fuck! Oh, fuck!” She stood up again, snatching the crow bar from Constance’s hands and drove it straight against the cracked glass once more with as much force as she could muster. She did it again and again, screaming desperately with each blow. “Oh, fuck...please, please, please...fuck!”

Constance moved beside her, crying as she started to smash what the biggest piece that was left of her board against the glass. It had broken in half when she and Debbie tried to keep breaking through when Tammy had gone to get the bar and she kept the larger half in hand.

The glass was badly damaged, cracked but it seemed to bow against the pressure too, absorbing the blow with more cracks but it wouldn’t let even a trickle of water slip out. Tammy was openly crying now, desperately trying to smash her way in though it was clear her strength was waning bit by bit. Where they would have expected water to gush out now simply did not, the tank keeping itself impossibly together despite all the destruction being brought upon it. In her terror, Debbie turned away from the blonde, turning to face Lou who still kept her head up, trying to take in oxygen as much as she could as she prepared for the inevitable.

“Lou? Lou!” Debbie shrilled, smacking her fist against the glass so hard she didn’t even realize she’d broken her skin open when Lou began to flounder slightly as the air pocket got smaller and smaller. Once there was no more air to breathe, Lou let herself sink down, facing the other side of the glass once more where Debbie stayed, her big brown eyes wide with abject terror. Their eyes met and Lou pressed her hand against the glass underneath where Debbie’s bleeding palm lay. “Keep your eyes on me, okay? I’m here. I’m here. I’m not leaving you. I am right here!”

Tammy fell on one knee, breathing heavily, her hair damp against her forehead and her body soaked in sweat. Her shoulder was beginning to throb and the crow bar felt heavier in her hand as she pressed her fingers against the damaged surface once more, tears streaming down her face as she tried to suck in each breath through burning lungs. Beside her, Constance was stubbornly kicking at the glass, her broken board at her feet as her road-worn shoe collided with the impossibly stubborn plane.

“No, Lou! No!” Debbie screamed when she started to see Lou’s eyes slip close and bubbles beginning to escape through her lips. She started beating her fists against the glass, “Lou, no! Don’t give up, Lou! Please! No, Lou! Lou! Keep your eyes open, Lou!” Her head whipped to the side and her eyes pleaded with Tammy who was trying to keep herself upright, “Tammy, do something! Help _her_!”

Wordlessly, letting metal scrape against the ground, Tammy got back on her feet and began to lift the bar higher once more. She sucked in one burning breath and gave the glass another swing, smacking right at the center of the spiderweb of cracks. It bounced uselessly before clattering to the ground and the blonde took another deep breath, raising the bar once more and swung even harder. 

The strong willed Ocean couldn’t help the sobs that escaped her, pressing her forehead weakly against the glass, her bloodied knuckle pressing faintly against the cold surface. She tried to slam her fist as hard as she could, spreading more blood on the surface as she tried to bring the woman on the other side back to consciousness. 

“Don’t leave me,” she cried brokenly. “Please, Lou...please. Don’t leave me.”


	3. somewhere another pretty vein dies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is where the slight crossover begins.

## somewhere another pretty vein dies

“Don’t do this, Lou...please, not like this.”

The desperate pleas could be heard clearly in the heaviness that had permeated the room. Debbie was slumped against the glass, crying desperately as she watched in horror as Lou’s body begin to convulse from the severe lack of oxygen. Her eyes had slipped closed and her body had begun to sink as her body lost its fight. Debbie smacked her fist feebly against the glass, not even noticing Constance who was also banging the pieces of her broken board against the glass as she tried to rouse the unconscious woman as well.

Clutching her hands against her chest, Tammy’s shoulders hunched in defeat and with no little amount of shame as she shut her eyes tightly against the sound of grief that was coming from one of the strongest people she had ever known. Her heart was in her throat and her body felt heavy, as if her own grief had begun to weigh her down, threatening to drop her right into the ground. Her hope destroyed and her soul shattered in pieces by failure, Tammy felt the pain that had her heart in a vice grip, making it even more difficult to breathe, leaving her choking in her silence.

With tears streaming down her face, she reached out, pressing her fingers against the broken surface where she had caused the most damage. Tammy felt physical pain scorch through her grief and she looked up, seeing her own blood smearing against the glass. Barely glancing at the deep cut in her finger, she kept her eyes on the obscene red stain against the broken plane, forcing herself to focus on that in an effort to retain what little sanity she had left. She watched her blood seep through the cracks, noticing quite quickly how it seemed to slip through and settle against something underneath.

Tilting her head to the side, Tammy moved closer to the glass, brushing her tears from her eyes and reached out again once more to touch the same spot. She hiccuped, pressing down against the glass once, ignoring the stinging pain on the cut on her finger and watched more of her blood easily slip through the cracks and settle against something on the other side. The blood thinned out slightly as it spread, the red seemingly turning brown where it stayed trapped in between.

“Wait...” she breathed out heavily, pressing her other three fingers against the shattered surface. The small shards of glass shifted and cracked but it stayed in place, furthering her confusion. Her mind raced, her heart threatened to break right out of her skin. A faint memory flickered in her mind’s eye and suddenly it wasn’t so confusing anymore. "Oh, my god...this is...I think I know what this is! Debbie, get up! Get up!"

"Wh-What? What are you talking about?" Debbie asked, her voice hoarse and her eyes red.

"We're getting Lou out, come on!" when those words left Tammy's lips, it seemed to jolt Constance as she scrambled to her feet.

"Tammy..." Debbie's voice was tired and so full of hurt. "Please...don't." 

“Impact windows,” Tammy breathed, her brown eyes wide with disbelief. She looked down at the crow bar she’d left uselessly beside her and grabbed it again with a gasp, “They’re made of impact resistant glass! Deb, it’s the glass!” 

Holding on tightly to the crow bar once more, she held it on the curved end this time and used the other end to push straight into the cracked surface. She bounced slightly, the curved end digging painfully against her shoulder and she pulled back and tried to push it through once more. She angled one side of the squared tip, pushing one sharp edge into the mess of glass. Tammy let out a small cry, feeling her shoulder wrench as she threw her weight against it, trying to pierce the metal through.

Constance, realizing what she was trying to do, jumped behind her and threw her weight down as well. Tammy swallowed a scream, ignoring the pain that felt too much like her arm would split from her shoulder, allowing the smaller girl to add her weight to her own and together, they forced the bar to puncture the material. Right away, water began to gush through the small tear. Constance let out a surprised whoop, looking at Tammy with wide disbelieving eyes and smacked her on the arm in her excitement and renewed hope.

“We need to rip through this,” Tammy said hurriedly, trying not to slip on the wet floor. She kept herself braced on one knee, flipping the bar around in her hands and slipped the tip of the curved tip into the ragged hole they created, hooking it around the edges of the puncture.

Beside her, Constance grabbed her broken skateboard and jabbed the sharp edge against the damaged glass just as Tammy began pulling at it to widen the tear. More water gushed out, soaking both of them immediately and Debbie fell to her knees beside them, grabbing with her bare hands and started to pull as well. The three women fought against the torrent, pulling and pushing until they could make the hole large enough for a body to get through.

“Constance, you need get in there and get to Lou,” Debbie said hurriedly. “Keep her above the water.”

The water was rapidly flooding the basement floors and Constance slipped through the opening as soon as it was large enough to fit her. She bypassed the crow bar Tammy was still working against the mess and pushed against the water, fitting easily into the box and fought the current with her little body. She scrambled towards Lou and moved to grab her as her body bobbed in and out of the water.

“Lou? Can you hear me?” Constance said loudly, holding up the taller woman against her, keeping her head above the surface as it slowly receded around them. “Lou? Hey, it’s me, man. Come on. We’re gonna get you outta here. Come on.”

Tammy smacked the bar against the glass until it was flattened all the way against the metal frames on one side, blinking against the water as it splashed around them. Once she’d made a hole big enough for Debbie, she reached in, grabbing Lou’s legs and instructed Constance to start getting her out. Tammy dropped the crow bar once she was sure they would have no problems getting through and kept her small hands on Lou’s soaking icy blonde head, carefully keeping her away from the frames left jagged with broken glass.

Debbie hugged Lou’s body to her at once, barely glancing at Constance as she too slipped out of the box, holding on tightly to Tammy as she pulled her out. 

“Lou? Wake up, hey,” the brunette said desperately, lightly smacking the deathly pale cool cheeks. “Hey? Come on, Lou, come on. It’s me. I’m here.”

“We need to get her out of here, Deb,” Tammy gasped, helping Constance get to her feet. “That pipe is still going. We gotta go! Now!”

“Okay,” Debbie whispered and she and Tammy moved Lou between them and made their way up the stairs with Constance leading the way. Moving quickly, Tammy helped Debbie haul her partner up with her, keeping her hands on them to make sure they didn’t fall to the side and back into the wet basement. 

“Here, here,” Tammy huffed, helping Debbie lay Lou down on the porch just outside the door of the shack. Pressing her ear next to the unconscious woman’s mouth, she bit the inside of her cheek painfully, “She’s not breathing. I’ll do chest compressions, you get her breathing. Okay, Deb?”

“Yes, yes,” Debbie said urgently, positioning herself beside Lou’s head.

“Make sure her airways are clear,” Tammy instructed as she positioned her hands over Lou’s chest properly. She silently thanked the heavens for all those times she dragged herself to the local community center for First Aid training before and after she had her first child.

“Constance, get the blanket in the car—in the trunk,” Tammy said as she began to pushing against Lou’s chest through a thin plain white shirt. She counted off under her breath, stopping every other count to let Debbie breathe into her mouth. Constance was quick to return with the thick wool blanket, draping it over prone woman’s stomach and legs.

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” the younger woman asked shakily, wiping her face with a shaky hand as she watched them work on their friend.

Neither woman answered and Tammy counted off steadily, breathing along to the rhythm of each press, “Come on, Lou. Come back. We’re here, honey. Come on. One, two, three...come on, Lou,” the exhausted blonde hissed. “You’re not going out like this, goddamn you. Come on...one, two, three...I’m gonna kill you, I swear, Lou. I’m going to kill you if you leave like this...”

“Lou, hey, wake up,” Debbie said, pressing her hand on her forehead after attempting to breathe life back into her body again. “Come on, Lou...please, wake up.”

Both women worked frantically to revive their fallen friend, alternating at each turn. Tammy was biting so hard on her bottom lip that it had nearly begun to bleed and Debbie was so concentrated on trying to wake Lou up, she didn’t even realize she had begun to cry once more. They kept going, never ceasing despite the fear, despite the exhaustion. They continued to fight for her, trying to bring her back the only way they knew how in the middle of nowhere.

“Lou, please...” in the confusion, no one was sure who said those words but all three women continued to speak to their friend, trying to rouse her and bring her back to consciousness.

As Tammy’s arms began to burn with the effort, Lou’s body suddenly convulsed and Debbie barely had time to move away before she began to mercifully cough up the water that had been lodged in her system. They turned her on her side immediately, helping her get as much fluid out, hands rubbing at her arms and back to coax warmth into her body. Tammy fell back on her rear, letting out a heavy puf of air as she tried to catch her breath and Debbie couldn’t help the almost hysterical laugh that escaped her while Constance tried to hug the woman on the ground. 

She pressed her head gently on the woman’s chest, “Goddamn, dude, you scared us...shit.”

“Oh, thank god,” Debbie muttered, smiling through a stream of tears. She pressed down gently against Lou’s shoulder when the pale blonde tried to roll away, confused and delirious. “No, no. Lou. It’s okay. Everything’s fine. You’re okay. It’s me. We’re here.”

Leaving her right leg stretched out on the side to get her blood to circulate through it once more and keeping herself up with a hand placed firmly on the ground, Tammy wiped her face with a shaking hand. She watched Lou closely as Debbie worked to calm her down, noticing that while she was making some movements, she had yet to fully open her eyes. She also noticed red drops had begun to appear on the right side of Lou’s stomach, which only made her feel a new wave of fear once more. Had they injured her when they pulled her out? Tammy was on high alert again.

She reached out to gently roll up the bottom of her soaking shirt, biting the inside of her cheek once she uncovered what was underneath. Just on the side of her torso was a wound that seemed to have been crudely sewn shut, about a couple of inches or so in size and there were small dots of blood slowly leaking through the torn stitches. She ignored Debbie’s gasp in reaction to the injury and focused her attention on the older blonde who was beginning to breathe more evenly despite the rattle in her chest that was too painfully clear.

“Lou? Hey, Lou?” Tammy leaned forward, clasping one hand tightly and putting the shirt back in place. She watched the woman’s half open eyes blink lazily once, then twice before they rolled into the back of her head and she slipped back into unconsciousness. “Damn it. Lou?”

Beside her, Debbie was finding her relief to be short lived, “Oh, god, Lou? Tammy, what’s going on?”

“She’s hurt,” the blonde said, checking once more to make sure Lou’s pulse and breathing were regular before beginning to lift her off the ground. “We need to go.”

Debbie helped her get Lou back up between them again, practically carrying her to the car where they slipped her in the back with Constance who immediately placed the woman’s head on her lap, keeping her snug in the blanket.

Tammy slipped behind the wheel and Debbie jumped in the back by Lou’s feet in the backseat. The blonde closed the trunk before slamming her car door shut and making sure everyone was inside before making sure the locks were all engaged. 

“Where’s the nearest hospital?” Constance asked, pulling out her phone only to be dismayed to find it had been smashed in the process. “My phone’s dead.”

Tammy pulled out, barely looking if she was about to hit anything as she turned the car around and drove like a bat out of hell. She kept her eyes sharp, just in case there was someone in the property and took the same road they’d taken to enter this hell they’d found themselves in. She pushed the vehicle as fast as it could go, keeping her hands tight on the wheel.

“Constance, help Tammy find the closest hospital,” Debbie instructed and the two maneuvered around in the back—the smaller woman moving between the seats to slip into the front while the other stayed in the back though this time positioned at the other side of Lou to keep her head elevated and resting on her lap, pressing her hand against her forehead.

When Constance started to fiddle with the GPS once more, Tammy smacked her hand away. “Dude, I don’t think this is the time to get all possessive with your toy!”

“Open the compartment, there should be a phone in there,” the blonde said stiffly as she kept her eyes on the road, eyes wild as it darted between the rear and side mirrors. “Did you find it?”

“You mean this ancient looking thing?” Constance held up a nondescript blank flip phone. 

Tammy held her hand out and the skateboarder handed it to her with a worried glance towards Debbie who was frowning at them from the back while keeping Lou safely in her arms.

“What—Tammy, where are we going? We need to find a hospital.”

“Just a second,” the blonde answered absently, keeping one firm hand on the wheel and flipped the phone open then pressed three buttons on the pad and pressed it against her ear. She bit her bottom lip, eyes darting around once more as she waited for the other end to pick up.

Constance turned around, looking at Debbie with alarm, “What the hell...?”

“It’s me,” Tammy said into the phone and rattled off her location quickly. “What’s the closest unit to me? I need help...she, uh, she drowned but there’s an injury to her side...I don’t know if she was stabbed or what, but it’s small...what? No, I don’t know,” she paused, listening on the other end. “Could be. Maybe. I’m not sure.” 

She stopped, glancing at the backseat through the rear view, avoiding Debbie’s eyes as she returned her attention on the road. “It’s Lou. You have the file...?” she bit her bottom lip. “She’s stable but unconscious...okay, I can make it there in thirty minutes. Keep the roads clear if you can,” she paused again. “Where is he...? Oh, okay. Please.” She took the phone from her ear, using the same hand that held it to keep the wheel in place as she pulled her phone out from her pocket, letting out a breath once she realized it was still functional. She pressed the old flip phone to her ear once more, glancing at the screen of her smart phone, “I need a crew out to a location.” 

Tammy held the phone in place between her ear and her shoulder and swiped a few times on her screen and tapped on at it a few times, “Did you get it? That’s where we found her.” She nodded absently, dropping her smart phone absently on the dashboard. “I need to find out if you can find anything on...yeah, that’ll do.” She let out a breath, “Thank you, Kate. See you soon.”

She hung up, flipping the phone closed and held it in her hand as she drove. Tammy kept her eyes focused on the road, ignoring the screen on her vehicle’s console that was offering to assist her.

“What the hell was that? And what do you mean thirty minutes? Lou needs a hospital now!” Debbie demanded from the backseat.

“She’s stable, she’s breathing,” Tammy said calmly. “Whatever happened to Lou...we’re better off avoiding hospitals right now, Debbie. And you can’t be anywhere out of New York City. They’ll throw you back in jail before Lou even wakes up.”

“I don’t care about that, Tammy! I care about getting Lou help!”

Tammy threw the flip phone into the dashboard and gripped the wheel tightly, “I know, Deb! And that’s why we’re doing this! There’s a doctor waiting for us where we’re going. We need help and trust me, I’d rather put Lou’s life in their hands than some hospital in the middle of nowhere!”

“But—”

“Do you even know what she was doing there? Or where we were?” Tammy was practically screaming, barely able to keep the hysteria out of her voice. Having put some distance between them and the house with that horrendous box, her mind was no able to catch up to the hell they had just experienced. “How do we know whoever put Lou in that goddamn box isn’t waiting for us somewhere? We need to get the fuck out of here, Debbie! We can’t stay here. We don’t know who Lou was messing with!”

“Are you saying this is Lou’s fault?” Debbie growled ferociously.

Tammy slammed her open hand against the wheel, “I don’t care whose fault it is! I just need to make sure we don’t end up in a box, Debbie!”

“What the fu—”

“Hey, stop it! Stop it!” Constance suddenly cut in, moving between the seats once more to block Tammy from Debbie’s view. “You two need to calm down. We been through crazy shit...we gotta keep it together, aight?” She looked to Debbie, “Look, boss. I get it. We’re all scared but Tammy’s right...this place is fucking messed up. We gotta get out of here and if Tammy’s got people waiting then we should probably go...she trusts them...right?”

“Yes,” Tammy said calmly, trying to regulate her own breathing. “I know these people, Deb. We can trust them. And they’ll take care of Lou. I care about her. I’m not going to jeopardize her life.”

Debbie glared at her from the backseat, “What if she needs a real hospital, huh? She wasn’t breathing, Tammy. We almost lost her!”

“But we got her back,” Constance pointed out. “And Tammy is taking care of things...so you just take care of Lou, yeah?”

Holding the younger woman’s gaze for a moment, Debbie let out a tense breath before finally nodding weakly. She looked down on Lou, pressing her fingers against the side of her neck and took comfort when she felt her pulse steadily pumping under cool skin. “Okay,” she nearly whispered. “Just drive fast, okay, Tam-Tam?”

Tammy nodded, giving Constance firm nod and brought her focus back on the road once more, “She’s gonna be okay, Deb. I promise.”

She pressed down on the gas, leaving behind the place that they would soon simply call hell.

o0o

“Okay, I’m not trying to start something...but where the hell are we this time?”

Constance bit her bottom lip, hugging her arms around her wet body as she looked at the looming warehouse they were approaching. She had buckled in tightly after realizing just how far Tammy was pushing the vehicle, wondering how she managed to get away with it without having anyone pull them over for excessive speeding. They’d gotten to their locations in thirty minutes as promised but Constance was more than sure on a normal day they would have taken twice the amount of time if they kept to the state-sanctioned speed limits.

There was a large scruffy looking man, waving them forward as another man pushed a large heavy door open. Constance tried valiantly to ignore the automatic weapon that was casually slung over his shoulder as it swung against his back as he moved. The man ushering them in was armed as well, unperturbed by the fast approach of the SUV as it slipped through.

“We’re here,” Tammy said simply, driving her Range Rover straight inside where a much older woman with a severe looking straight black bob and a black knee-length tweed suit and a gray coat stood waiting. She wore a pair of plain black thick framed glasses and had a black purse hanging off her forearm with her leather-clad hands were clasped tightly in front of her.

Tammy killed the engine, leaving the car door wide open as she stepped out and looked across at the older woman. She ran up to meet her, leaving Constance and Debbie inside the vehicle with Lou. They watched the blonde mother of two launch herself into the arms of the surprised older woman, holding on tightly, soaked cashmere and all.

Holding the blonde to her, the stranger waved her hand and suddenly a gurney seemed to automatically burst through the black tarp behind her and five people in scrubs came right at the car. Debbie resisted the urge to gather Lou to her, only stepping out of the car carefully as a dark skinned man with kind eyes informed her they were here to help and asked her if he could see the patient.

Constance immediately found her place next to Debbie as they watched anxiously while Lou was loaded onto a stretcher and the medical team—assuming that was what these people were—began to wheel her away straight through the thick black tarp that had been hastily but properly set up.

“It happened so fast,” Tammy was saying to the older woman who now held her partway at arm’s length, looking at her with dark though kinder eyes. “She was in a fucking box, Kate. It looked like a coffin. I don’t know. They were drowning her right in front of us...it was a fucking nightmare.”

“Was anybody there? Did you see anyone?” the older woman—Kate—asked with a calm raspy voice. “Think, dear. Did you see anything?”

“No, no,” Tammy shook her head, eyes full of tears now, which she wiped away hastily with her wet sleeve. “The place was deserted. It was dark. We didn’t even know anything was wrong until...we had to track her phone. It led us there. And it’s like they knew we were there because we only heard the water start pouring when we got down there...”

“We have a team at the location,” Kate answered. “Dr. Gupta will take care of your friend. I haven’t notified Raymond but I will later. He will want to know.”

Tammy nodded shakily, “I didn’t know where you were but I needed to call you, I—”

“You did the right thing,” the older woman responded. “Come inside. Baz will take care of things out here.” She turned away from the blonde, catching sight of Debbie and Constance who were standing there, feeling out of place and resisting all urges to burst into the room where they had taken Lou. All three women looked like drowned rats pulled out of a well but that didn’t seem to bother her at all. “Miss Ocean, Miss Shui—Miss Miller will be undergoing treatment in the meantime.”

Despite everything that had already happened, Debbie and Constance still managed to looked startled, wondering how the mysterious woman seemed to know exactly who they were. Constance was sure she’d never told anyone her last name and apart from Lou, she was sure nobody knew it at all. Maybe Nine Ball but that was most likely because she probably hacked into everything and knew all about everyone but she was sure Tammy hadn’t known at all, as her last name was not something Constance ever bothered giving out.

“Come inside, dear,” Kate urged Tammy in a low voice, turning the younger woman’s hands in her own and tutted quietly, frowning. “You’ll need to get your hands looked at.”

“Debbie got hurt too,” Tammy mumbled, suddenly feeling depleted and allowed her friend to lead her into the makeshift mobile crash unit. “Come on, guys. Let’s see how Lou is doing.”

The two women followed, unable to hide their surprise as they stepped into a room that was so obviously professionally set up. Debbie had expected some crudely assembled room without even a stitch of medical equipment and shabby lighting—instead she stepped into a rather sophisticated mobile surgical unit where another safe zone had been set up, separating them from Lou and the medical team with clear plastic properly sealed together to keep the area as sterilized as possible. 

“Holy crap...” Constance said in awe, looking around the room. “This is...wow. Is this a secret hospital or something?”

Kate looked at Tammy who was slumped into a small bench, holding her head in her hands. She looked at Constance squarely, “This is a mobile crash unit, dear. Not a hospital.”

“Wait, you’re saying you just set this up? Like when Tammy called you?” 

“Yes.”

Constance’s eyes were alight with wonder, “Well, damn, boss.”

The woman in the black suit simply stared at her.

“It’s what they do, Con,” Tammy said though she kept her face buried in her hands. “Lou’s in good hands. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” Constance said, tugging on Debbie’s arm. “Jeez, are you seeing this?”

“Yeah,” Debbie said, looking around calmly before settling her eyes on Kate then on Tammy. “This is definitely something.”

Kate raised an eyebrow but said nothing, crossing her arms over her chest before slipping out through the black tarp once more and disappeared from sight. Constance took her chance, practically skipping her way to Tammy and plopping herself right next to her.

“Hey, man, you’ve been holding out on us!” 

“What’re you talking about?” Tammy looked up, leaning back until she could set her back against the back of the seat. She tried to run her hands through her hair only to remember she’d gotten it wet with sweat and water down in the basement and so it had become a dull tangled mess only partially dry after the drive. She winced, her fingers getting caught in a few strands so she pulled them back only to leave her hair messier than before she’d tried to comb through it.

“This set up is nuts,” Constance whispered. “And you have real doctors there...I thought you’d have like a vet or something.”

“Why would I call a vet for Lou?” Tammy asked, giving her an incredulous look.

“I don’t know, but I didn’t expect a Dr. Gupta, that’s for sure,” the younger woman whistled. “If I ever get shot, I’m dragging my ass to you.”

Tammy’s eyes widened, “Now why would someone be shooting at you in the first place?”

“I don’t know, shit happens,” Constance shrugged. “You got an insane hook up, seriously.”

The blonde shook her head, only to look up and find Debbie’s eyes laser-focused on her. Now that she was sure Lou was in good hands, she now had time to digest just exactly what had transpired and how they got to where they were. All of it had been Tammy somehow, keeping in step and moving through the motions fluidly.

Debbie had never once doubted Tammy’s capabilities, never once thought she couldn’t count on her because she knew the blonde had a good head on her shoulders and was very good at thinking on her feet. She never had a problem putting Tammy at the front of the store, knowing full well she could talk herself into and out of anything at any time. She knew Tammy, knew just how good she was but today had been entirely different than anything she’d ever thrown at her before. And Tammy had gotten through it barely missing a beat, taking each blow as it came and she saved Lou—and maybe all four of them—and got them out of that awful place.

That and this warehouse they suddenly found themselves in. Debbie had no idea who this Kate woman was and what exactly it was she did. Obviously, she was capable of setting up a medical tent like it was nothing and if she had heard correctly, she had also sent out some kind of a team to the place where they found Lou. To do what? Debbie wasn’t sure but she had some idea. The rest of it was a big infuriating blank though. Who was she to Tammy? And how did she seem to know the group? She hadn’t even batted an eye at their appearance or at Lou’s condition.

Debbie Ocean was the kind of woman who liked to be in control, who liked to know the lay of the land and hold all the cards. But right now, looking at Tammy and seeing her in this whole new light surrounded by so much strangeness, Debbie had never felt quite so out of step.

No once, in all the time Debbie had ever known Tammy had she ever classified her as a wild card. Today changed all of that.

“You guys are probably freezing,” Tammy said, standing up and shaking her limbs lightly to get them back into circulation. “I’ll see—”

She stopped when Debbie moved towards her and moved to stand right in front of her. There was a slight difference in height between them but neither women had trouble keeping their eyes on the other. Tammy stood firm, ignoring the urge to turn away from the intensity of the look that was being aimed right at her, reminding herself she had nothing to hide and there was no reason to feel self-conscious. She had done nothing wrong.

There was a heavy moment when suddenly Debbie wrapped her arms around Tammy, holding on to her tightly and burying her face into her neck. “You saved Lou,” she whispered fiercely. “Thank you, Tammy. For Lou. Thank you.”

Not even realizing she’d been holding her breath, Tammy let out a surprised gasp and returned the embrace just as fiercely.

o0o

“Is he here?”

Tammy was buttoning up a light blue long sleeved cotton blouse as she spoke, standing behind a set of crates near the back of the makeshift unit, far away from where the doctors were treating Lou, Debbie and Constance. Her hands had been treated for the shallow cuts and the pieces of glass she hadn’t realized had been embedded in her hand and she’d nearly ripped her shoulder apart as well so she was being advised to rest it. She had reluctantly let them wrap it to keep it in place but it restricted some movement which she didn’t particularly like.

She had changed into the clothes Kate managed to acquire for her—the blouse, a pair of dark jeans, socks and plain white canvas shoes after a quick wash of her matted hair. Kate Kaplan stood on the other side, her back to her and looking guardedly down the hall in case anyone might approach.

“He’s in New York on business.”

“That’s why Baz is here.”

“Yes and I spoke with Raymond—Baz and Burke will be staying with you for the foreseeable future,” the older woman said. “That’s not negotiable.”

“I guessed as much,” the blonde sighed and stepped out from behind the crates. “I really don’t know what this is about, Kate. Lou was supposed to be on a road trip...she does this a couple times a year.”

Kate looked at her squarely, “I’m aware. Did she say if she was conducting business on this trip?”

“No,” Tammy frowned, gently prodding at the elastic bandage under her blouse to make sure the binding was still tight. “Lou hasn’t done anything but concentrate on the club in the last six years...the only thing I know she’s been dealing with outside of it were for motorcycle parts. Nothing outrageous. Just for the things she’s been working on restoring.”

“She got out? Just like that?” Kate said skeptically, knowing full well who exactly Lou Miller was and all that it entailed being in her orbit.

“Yes,” Tammy answered earnestly. “After Debbie...she quit. She bought the club and got it off the ground. For god’s sake, I was the one who stayed in the game. Lou said she was tired of it.”

“Tired of the lifestyle?”

“Of all of it,” Tammy confessed quietly. “She didn’t like it...not like Debbie. It was a way to get by for a while but once Lou knew she had what she needed to start something promising, she was done. She wanted...more.”

“And the Toussaint?”

“Debbie,” the younger woman said with a heavy sigh. “It was her plan. She got right into it the minute she got out. Lou did what she always did...she watched her back.”

“And you?”

Tammy smiled a little, “Fifteen million was hard to say no to.”

“I thought as much,” the older woman deadpanned. “Raymond was delighted.”

She smiled knowingly, “I’m sure he was.”

“Did you run any other job other than the Toussaint?”

“No,” Tammy frowned. “Everyone got their cut and we disbanded for and agreed to wait until we were sure it was clear. That’s why Lou moved her California trip.”

“Is Debbie planning anything else?” Kate asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Nothing she’s mentioned to me,” Tammy answered honestly, crossing her arms over her chest loosely. “Not that she tells me everything...but I think she’s really been laying low. She’s still on probation.”

“Of course,” Kate nodded knowingly. “So the Toussaint...that’s it. Did you make a clean exit?”

Tammy frowned, “Yes, we did. The investigator involved in the case was just too happy to get a piece of it back and with Claude Becker, he had everything he needed. It was a clean job.”

“And the rest of it?” 

“Sold off piece by piece,” she confessed easily. “Nothing traceable to us. It all led back to Claude Becker. Where exactly is this going, Kate?”

The older woman pulled her phone out, showing her a photo that had been taken from the basement. It was still lit up but the photo seemed to be solely of the horrific box that had almost taken Lou away from them for good. The smashed hole they’d left on it was still there and Tammy flinched, remembering the absolute helplessness she had felt inside that cursed room.

Her arms tightened around her body, her fingers digging into the fabric of the borrowed clothes. She ignored the slight pull at her aching shoulder as she bit the inside of her cheek, “You found something.”

“My team didn’t need to ask anyone about this,” Kate said simply. “That is the work of Petrovic. They call him The Serbian. Expensive. Only works on commission.”

Tammy swallowed visibly, “I don’t know who that is.”

“You’re not supposed to,” the woman evenly. “He doesn’t just take any job, Tamara. The people who hire him, hire him for a reason. He isn’t someone you find on the yellow pages. And he won’t take a job for just anyone.” Her lips drew into a thin, severe line. “What I’m trying to make sense of is how your friend managed to get mixed up with someone who has enough connections to pull in Petrovic. If you say Lou Miller has been clean the last six years, then you need to find out who made the wrong people angry and why.”

Tammy shook her head a little, “I don’t know, Kate...the Toussaint. That’s all we did. And that was almost two months ago.”

“And someone put your friend in a box—they could have just as easily killed you but they wanted to torture you by watching her die,” Kate said gravely. “They could have killed her and made her disappear. But they wanted you to watch. What does that tell you?”

“They wanted us there,” Tammy said quietly, her fingers digging into her flesh in a tense grip. “They wanted to send a message.”

Kate nodded, “Yes, but to who? You, Debbie and that kid were the ones in that basement. And the only thing that connects all three of you is the Toussaint.” She crossed her arms across her chest, “Have you worked with Miss Shui before this?”

“No,” Tammy shook her head, “I only met her on the job.”

“So narrow it down,” the older woman said. “Lou was the one who formed this team?”

Tammy bit her bottom lip, “She and Debbie. But most of the connections were Lou’s.” She reached behind her, rubbing the back of her neck and let out a sigh. “It was foolproof, Kate. It was clean. We got in, we got out...we weren’t even on anyone’s radar.”

Both women fell silent, the air hanging heavily between them. Tammy was clutching at herself, trying to quell the fear that was beginning to rush through her veins. Kate Kaplan stood rigidly, hands now clasped in front of her, watching the young mother process everything in her silence.

“It has to be something...” Tammy said, her hand moving up to her mouth and pressed her fingers down on her lips, resisting the urge to bite at her nails in her anxiety. “Something that we didn’t...” she stopped, her eyes widening slightly. “Claude Becker.”

“The one they arrested for the theft? What about him?”

“He was Debbie’s ex. He’s the reason why she ended up in prison.”

Kate frowned, “So...it was revenge. He’s, what, an artist, right?”

Tammy nodded, “He had a gallery. But I don’t know him...all I know is what he did to Debbie. I never even met Claude. I only heard about him from Lou when Debbie got arrested.”

“You weren’t around at the time?” Kate frowned.

“No,” she shook her head. “Lou, Debbie and I were working the casinos in Vegas when Chris and I started getting serious. When we got back to New York and they started doing small jobs at Bingo Halls, I decided to opt out...I wanted to see if I could break from the lifestyle and find some normalcy with Chris.”

“I remember,” Kate said, nodding. “You were pregnant with Keri when she went to prison.”

She nodded, “I was. I saw Lou after she just bought the club. At the time, I had no idea she and Debbie had had a falling out.”

Kate waved a dismissive hand as if to move the conversation away from whatever personal melodrama that had occurred which was absolutely no interest of hers, “So Debbie used him for the job?”

Tammy nodded and echoed the words that had been spoken to her, “Only way to con a con, right?”

“You never looked into Claude Becker?” the older woman frowned. She had seen her fair share of Tamara McDeere on the job studying each angle down to the letter and with such precision that could rival her own. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

The weak one-shouldered shrug gave her away, “It was Debbie’s operation and she knew him...that was enough.”

Kate’s eyes were dark as they met hers, “Was it?”

“Yes,” Tammy answered though she regretted the doubt in her voice. “At the time, it was enough. He was just a prick who needed to be put in his place. He took nearly six years of her life.”

“I understand that, believe me, I do,” the cleaner started. “But since the day we found you, I have never seen you so careless. You cover your bases. You always have. How was this any different?”

Tammy’s brows furrowed slightly, “I’ve kind of been out of the game...mostly running small jobs. Fencing bicycles and coffee makers isn’t the same as, well, you know. Maybe I’ve lost my touch.”

Kate glared at her, “I’ve known you since you were nineteen years old. Try selling me a better line, I think I deserve that much.”

The younger woman shook her head, her hand reaching out to rub her aching shoulder, “For all we know, Lou was up to something. Or this is from an old job from years back. Nothing is clear yet. It might not be Claude at all, Kate. He really was just a spineless prick.”

“Never underestimate the other side of the board, you know better.”

Tammy sighed, “I do. Look, I’ll look into Claude. I’ll talk to Debbie. Later. Right now, I just want to make sure Lou’s okay.”

Kate nodded stiffly, motioning towards the small hallway. She let Tammy pass her before she moved, following closely behind her as she kept her sharp eyes on her. She didn’t reach out to the blonde but she moved to walk just behind her, dark eyes scanning the area as she leaned close.

“You’re not telling me the whole story, Tamara,” she said in a low voice. “You need to tell me now so we know exactly what we’re dealing with and figure out the best way to wrap this up before it becomes a mess I’ll need to clean up.”

Tammy stiffened her spine, biting the inside of her cheek and kept her eyes straight ahead. She didn’t say a word and didn’t even turn to look at her. She knew Kate would see it in her eyes if she slipped even just for a second. She couldn’t have that, not yet when even she didn’t even know what exactly was going on. She needed to talk to Lou.

Whatever was going on, the last thing Tammy needed was to need Kate Kaplan to clean things up for her. She didn’t want that. Nothing good ever came with needing that particular kind of service and she couldn’t fathom what exactly anyone in their newly formed band of misfits could possibly have done to warrant such attention from who knows who. 

A part of Tammy wished this was just some mistake on Lou’s part or somehow this was just some phantom of the past coming back for some ill-timed revenge. But the involvement of someone called The Serbian never bode well, not for these kinds of things. As much as Tammy wanted to stay in denial or pretend she was naive, she knew there were bigger pieces moving around the board and the chances of this being over was impossible. The only question was who was playing on the other side and what they had planned next—she had a feeling they knew exactly who had managed to make it out of that desolate shack alive.

Elsewhere, inside the Range Rover that was still haphazardly parked, the phone that had been left abandoned on the dashboard lit up and began to vibrate.

The name _Leslie_ flashed in thin white letters on the screen.


	4. do you got room for one more troubled soul?

## do you got room for one more troubled soul?

Constance couldn’t help but stare at Tammy.

Just outside the makeshift medical tent, she watched the once pristine waspy blonde talk to her mysterious older friend and a couple of men who were casually dressed in jeans and firearms. They were huddled together as a group, speaking in low tones and their heads close together with serious looks on their faces and their bodies tense. 

Tammy had changed into some clothes just as she and Debbie had though the clothes they’d gotten were more on the generic variety of gray and black hooded track suit. Constance’s all black outfit was one size bigger than her frame but she didn’t mind, barely noticing as she nibbled mindlessly at the knotted tip of one drawstring from the hood, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible behind the black tarp. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to be witnessing any of this but she wasn’t about to get caught either way.

Constance shrank back when she saw the scruffy man with a white and gray ponytail pull out what looked like a handgun and watched Tammy receive it without batting an eye, nodding as she spoke while looking over the weapon in her hand. Constance watched in rapt attention, observing who she’d been told was a simple housewife who just happened to enjoy selling stolen goods, seemingly dismantle the gun in a few pieces right there as she looked it over, moving it this way and there, checking for bullets and who knew what. Constance didn’t know guns but it looked like sweet Tammy had no problem being around them at all.

This felt like against everything Constance had ever thought of about the housewife. Tammy had never presented herself as anything more than a really good organizer with impressive connections. They never used weapons on the job and Lou had told her as much that Debbie didn’t like guns and that the Oceans were a strictly no-kill type of criminals. They were just thieves, plain and simple. Constance simply lumped the two older women together with the blonde, thinking that to be the case as the three seemed to know each other the longest.

She couldn’t imagine Debbie with a gun and to some degree, she could say the same of Lou. She had seen the Australian work out—she knew that she was supposed to be the muscle while Debbie was the brain and Tammy was the front. But she thought Lou was more likely to just hit people and knock them out if need be, not walk around with a pistol and shoot people. And that was Lou who seemed to be the toughest out of all of them so there was no way Constance ever imagined Tammy beyond anything else—certainly she never imagined the blonde could be violent but there she was, standing with a couple of men who could easily pass for ruffians and a severe woman, holding a gun and taking it apart like it was just any other Saturday.

Constance couldn’t hear what they were saying but whatever it was, it was serious. Tammy had come in once to see her and Debbie when she came in to hand them clothes and a pair of plain white canvas shoes to change into, apologizing that they probably weren’t the right size but it was the best they could find under the circumstances but insisting that the footwear should fit alright. She’d given Constance a quick hug and a motherly pat on the cheek before moving towards where the doctor and his team were working on Lou, keeping vigil with them until she as called away for by the woman named Kate.

She wasn’t scared of Tammy, but she was beginning to rethink everything she thought she knew about the woman. She certainly had connections, as indicated during the planning stages of the heist, but Constance felt that even Debbie might not have been aware of just how good her connections were. Stolen goods connections, sure. But setup a surgical unit in an abandoned warehouse with legitimate doctors and nurses kind of connection? No. Constance knew this was something even Debbie Ocean did not see coming and if she wasn’t so out of her mind worrying about Lou, she’d be asking questions and wondering just as the young thief was doing at that precise moment.

As if sensing she was being watched, Tammy’s head suddenly turned in her direction, a frown creasing along her brow. Constance let out a squeak and pulled back, slipping back into the shadows, hoping she hadn’t been spotted. She peeked out just as the blonde hastily shoved the gun in the back of her pants, pulling her blouse over it swiftly and hiding it out of sight before turning her attention back to the discussion she was having with her people.

Heart hammering against her chest, Constance stepped away from the place she’d been spying from and moved back into the small room that had been set up for her and Debbie to wait in. She caught the brunette just as she slipped into the room and the doctor and his nurses slipped out. He slipped off his surgical cap and nodded at Constance as he went, motioning for her to enter after him. She gave him a jaunty nod in return and followed like a lost duckling, slipping through the unzipped heavy clear plastic that served as the only point of entry for the makeshift room. 

She found Debbie at Lou’s side, frowning at the bandage that had been taped on her left temple, fingers gently brushing at the icy blonde strands on her forehead. The dark haired maven looked up, smiling at Constance who was standing at the edge of the small room, trying to ignore the few machines around them, including the low steady beeping of the heart monitor that was tethered to Lou.

“They said she’s going to be okay,” Debbie said quietly. “They need to monitor her to make sure they got all the water out of her lungs so we’ll have to wait. But they said she just needs to rest.”

“Oh, yeah, good...that’s good,” Constance mumbled, pulling at the bottom of her hoodie. “What about that...uh, thing on her stomach?”

“They said it was a shallow cut,” Debbie sighed, turning to face Lou once more though this time she had a slight frown on her face. “They don’t know how it got there but they said it wasn’t life threatening and it looked like it had been treated. It just started to bleed when the stitches ripped. They think she’d been in some kind of accident.”

“Like what kind of an accident?” Constance asked, curious.

“Best guess? A motorcycle accident,” Debbie sighed. “They said there’s signs of road rash and bruising along her side and maybe the cut on her stomach probably came from that too.” She bit her bottom lip, “We won’t know until she wakes up and tells us what happened.”

“But she’s gonna wake up...right?”

Debbie nodded shakily, “They think so...but she went without oxygen for a while. They don’t know if it was long enough to...cause any damage but, hmm, it’s possible.”

Constance looked at Lou who was lying so still on the bed, taking in her sallow cheeks, dark circles under her eyes and white-blonde hair that didn’t help at all in making her look like she had any blood left circulating in her system. The young thief tried to ignore how unwell her friend looked, crossing her arms over her chest without thinking and hunching her shoulders slightly. She gave Debbie a crooked curl on the corners of her mouth, “It’s Lou...I mean, she’s strong and she’s really stubborn. She’s gonna be okay. I mean, it’s _Lou_.”

Debbie gave her a weak smile, “Yeah...it’s Lou.” She looked behind Constance, tilting her head to the side. “Hey, have you seen Tammy?”

“Uh, yeah, she’s...um, outside,” the younger criminal answered. “She’s talking to the people that were around here...looked serious.”

“Serious?” Debbie asked, her brow furrowing slightly. “Did something happen?”

She shrugged one shoulder lazily, trying not to fidget under the scrutinizing look she was receiving. “No, no, I don’t think so...? But I didn’t talk to her...I was just, uh, observing.”

A dark elegant eyebrow arched, “You mean snooping?”

“Well, yeah, you know,” she shrugged weakly. “Uhm, yeah, hmm...do you any of these people? Tammy’s friends?”

“No,” the dark haired woman answered honestly. “Frankly, I have no idea how we got here but Tammy seems to know them. I trust her.”

“Yeah, but...like, you know,” Constance bit her bottom lip, her fingers pulling at the hem of her hoodie. “That lady? Like, is she Tammy’s mom or what?”

“Tammy’s mom is with her kids in California,” Debbie pointed out. “But she seems to know Tammy. I don’t know, Constance. Is there anything wrong? Did you see something?”

“Uh, no...?”

“That’s convincing,” Debbie gave her a look before turning to look at Lou, running the back of her fingers along a pale cheek. “I can’t leave Lou right now...”

“You don’t have to,” Constance mumbled. “Nothing’s wrong. It looks like Tammy has everything, like, locked tight.”

Debbie glanced at her, “And yet that deer in the headlights look you’re sporting fails to comfort me.”

“It’s nothing,” the younger woman insisted. “I was just wondering, you know...like, how well do you know Tammy?”

o0o

“I need Baz to stay here.”

“No, Baz goes with you.”

“What? Kate—”

“As long as Raymond can manage not to get shot for the next few hours, I’ll be here.”

Tammy stopped, turning wide brown eyes towards Kate. She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it, shaking her head slightly before moving to hug the woman. The blonde smiled slightly when she felt the expected momentary stiffening on the thin body she held close to her.

It didn’t matter how long she’d known Kate for, the woman was just not used to hugs. Tammy never asked why and never prodded about her story, how she got there and when. As far as Tammy knew, Kate was Kate and that was all that mattered. It wouldn’t stop her from appreciating one of the biggest constants in her life and uncomfortable or not, she was going to hug her whenever she felt the need to. She wasn’t sure how Kate really felt about that but she tolerated it enough and only seemed to allow this with Tammy and that was alright with her.

“I’ll be back,” she whispered. “Thank you, Kate. It does make me feel better knowing you’ll be staying with them for a while.”

“Yes, yes,” the older woman mumbled, patting her on the back gently though still with some hint of awkwardness. “Now go.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing but after Lou...” Tammy sighed, pulling the gun Baz had given her earlier and checking it once more. She had small hands and he knew exactly what handgun she felt most comfortable handling. “She probably went back to sleep but I need to make sure.”

Kate nodded, “I understand.”

“Leslie is young and she’s all her sister has,” the younger woman said quietly then bit the inside of her cheek. “We can’t move Lou for a few hours. If Raymond calls—”

“You know I won’t leave them on their own,” Kate said firmly. “I’ll be here. Just make sure you know how to reach me if anything happens.”

Tammy checked on the black flip phone she’d used to contact her, “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

A sleek black town car entered the wide doors of the warehouse and stopped just behind her parked Range Rover. Bazzel Baz, dressed as usual in a dark shirt, an army green utility jacket, a pair of jeans and work boots, got out of the front passenger seat while the driver stayed inside. Tammy wouldn’t have to look to know they would be armed to the teeth, recognizing the grim look Baz had on his face. She knew exactly why she was being attached to one of Kate’s most trusted.

“Let me know if anything changes,” Tammy said under her breath, squeezing Kate’s hand and turned towards the parked vehicle. She’d been moving quickly to make a clean exit but hearing her own name being called by an all too familiar voice stopped her mid-stride.

“Tammy?”

The blonde took a deep breath before turning around to face her friend who had suddenly emerged from within the medical tent. Even dressed in a pair of drab matching set of gray hooded track suit plain white shoes, the brunette still managed to looked formidable. Tammy glanced at Kate who only gave her a knowing look as she passed her.

Debbie waited until they were face to face, within an arm’s reach before letting herself ask the questions that were most probably threatening to explode right out of her mouth.

“Going somewhere?” Debbie’s tone was casual but her eyes were on the weapon Tammy held in her hand and the younger woman resisted the urge to hide it behind her back. No use doing so when it had already so clearly been spotted.

“Leslie called me about ten minutes ago,” Tammy started carefully. “I missed it. I’ve been trying to reach her but I can’t. I’m going back to check on her.”

“With a gun?” a dark, sharp well-groomed eyebrow was arched inquisitively.

Tammy looked down at her hand, “After what happened to Lou, I’m not taking any chances, Deb. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”

She frowned slightly, “Do you even know how to use a gun, Tam-Tam?”

One corner of her lip curled up, “I’ll be fine. Kate will be here with you. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re going off to god knows where armed like you’re preparing for a shoot out,” Debbie pointed out, speaking slowly in a low voice. “And you’re telling me not to worry?”

“Yes,” Tammy answered plainly. “I need to make sure Leslie’s okay. And maybe even Rose. I don’t know. I have a feeling...” she looked away, tilting her head to the side before meeting those dark eyes once more.

Debbie tried for some levity in a conversation that was turning a little too dark for her liking, “A bit paranoid, maybe?”

But Tammy wasn’t one for it at the moment, “I think it’s warranted after what just happened.”

Tears suddenly sprung in her eyes, which slightly mortified Debbie now that she was more composed than before, but she ignored it, blinking quickly a few times. She moved her head to the side, now more than ever seeing Tammy in a new light. After managing to prod more information out of Constance and up until she mentioned the gun, Debbie was sure the younger woman was messing with her until she’d seen with her own eyes the usually passive mother of two armed and seemingly ready to go to battle.

“I can...uh, go with you?” Debbie offered weakly. She really didn’t want to leave Lou but she also didn’t want Tammy on her own to deal with whatever was waiting for her in the city, if anything. She didn’t know what they were dealing with either and she wasn’t willing to say it out loud yet but she did share some of the blonde’s instincts on the matter. Still, the thought of leaving Lou after what she’d just been through was hard to think about.

Tammy shook her head saying, “You should stay with Lou.” She reached out, rubbing her arm comfortingly, “I’ll check on Leslie, make sure everything’s okay. You’re probably right about me being paranoid anyway. I’ll drop by the loft to get some clothes for Lou too.”

“It’s a bit of a drive, Tam-Tam...”

“Yeah, but I’ll have friends with me,” she motioned behind her towards the scruffy man with the ponytail. “I’ve known them for years. Don’t worry about me.”

For some reason, that was hard to hear. Tammy was never helpless but being the youngest out of the three of them, there had been that sense of responsibility she never she really acknowledged until that moment. She had been young, a lot younger then, when she and Lou first met her and somehow, in that moment, Debbie couldn’t help but remember that particular Tammy. She wasn’t sure why but she couldn’t shake it off, this need to suddenly keep her close. Up until a few months ago, hadn’t they been apart for years? Tammy had grown so much more in the time Debbie had spent being away—she’d become a mother, for god’s sake. And yet, Debbie couldn’t help but remember. 

Debbie glanced at the man once more who only gave her a stiff nod which she returned, giving Tammy a dark look. “Tammy...”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Tammy assured her gently and gave her a bright smile—which was a hell of a contrast as she held that heavy gun in her delicate hand with the pink polished nails. “I’ve got the best people with me. Now, go and be with Lou. And make sure Constance isn’t playing with any of the medical equipment. Those things don’t come cheap.”

Debbie smiled a little, “You’ll check in? After you make sure Leslie just passed out from the weed?”

“Yes, I’ll check in after making sure Leslie just passed out from the weed,” Tammy answered with a playful teasing voice, her hand shaking Debbie’s arm playfully. “Now, I really need to go. You guys take care of Lou, okay?”

She didn’t wait for an answer, flashing her one last bright smile before turning and hurrying to the awaiting vehicle. Debbie watched her go, crossing her arms over her chest with foreboding dark eyes, as Tammy slipped into the backseat of the black heavily tinted town car. She didn’t move even as it drove off, exiting the warehouse quickly and without much regard for whatever speed limits there may be. 

Debbie tried not to worry, tried not to imagine what would make Tammy need that weapon in her hand. She wasn’t naive, she knew just because they were the kind of criminals who didn’t leave body counts in their wake, didn’t mean the rest of the world would be the same way. Lou was proof enough of that today and she ignored the way these dark thoughts made her heart hammer against her chest and resisted feeling the regret of watching Tammy leave so easily.

She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, remembering from her childhood an old prayer her mother had insisted she learn as a young girl. She wasn’t overly religious but she still remembered the teachings of her youth.

“Miss Ocean.”

She turned, seeing the older woman who seemed to have most of Tammy’s confidence. Debbie straightened her spine and moved towards her and the entrance to the medical tent. She ignored the feeling of being watched by a stern motherly figured. It had been years since Debbie’s mother had passed and this was not a feeling she missed. 

“I don’t think we were properly introduced,” she said smoothly, ignoring the bout of insecurity, feeling severely underdressed in her borrowed clothes as she held her hand out. “Deborah Ocean.”

Kate almost smiled, but took the offered hand firmly in kind. “You can call me Mr. Kaplan, dear.”

Debbie raised an eyebrow, “Mister?”

The woman didn’t blink, “Kaplan.”

“Ah...I was sure Tammy called you Kate.”

“Tamara was never one to conform,” the older woman said simply. “She likes to call me by my name, despite threats and even polite requests.”

“Maybe that’s because she hates being called Tamara,” the younger brunette smirked.

A ghost of a smirk appeared on her ever so slightly weathered features, “Turn about is fair play, wouldn’t you say?”

Debbie gave her a small humorless smile, “I’d like to thank you...” she moved her hand vaguely at the tent in front of them, “For this...for what you did for Lou.”

“I’ve never met Miss Miller but I’ve certainly heard a great deal of her from Tamara,” Kate replied. “I am under the impression she is quite fond of your friend. And of you. It was no hardship.”

Debbie didn’t bother the sarcastic remark that was ready to come out and instead, moved to more neutral grounds. “You’ve known Tammy long?”

Kate nodded, “Yes. Since she was nineteen.”

“That’s a long time,” Debbie said, unable to hide the surprise on her face. “Long before she met us.”

“Yes,” the woman answered. “Tamara told us about you when she first encountered you two. She liked you instantly, that much was clear.”

“We liked her too,” Debbie answered. “I don’t think she’s ever mentioned you before.”

That didn’t seem to bother her at all, “As expected.”

“How do you know her? Family?”

“In a sense,” came the vague response. “Tamara is very good at what she does.”

Debbie frowned, “Fencing?”

“Mm...yes.”

Dark eyes studied darker and more inscrutable ones, the two women falling silent. From this short encounter, Debbie already knew she wasn’t going to get much out of this woman. Whatever her relationship to Tammy was and what her reasons may be for keeping this part of her life from them, Kate Kaplan was not sharing anything about it. 

If she needed answers—and she needed a lot of them—Debbie would have to talk to Tammy herself because she was almost sure despite the small frame, the tailored clothing, austere nature and the small black handbag, there was something lethal about the woman who insisted on being addressed as Mr. Kaplan. She didn’t know what it was that made her believe this, but she knew her instincts were right on target on this one. And that only added more questions she needed answers to.

Debbie looked at Kate for a moment before giving her a slow smile, moving past her and back into the tent. The older woman followed, watching the younger brunette closely though with much less severity as before. She never questioned Tammy’s choice to be associated with the Oceans but as far as criminals went, Kate definitely worried less about the Oceans than most.

Their interests certainly didn’t align and neither did most of their philosophies but Kate could appreciate a less violent and more pragmatic approach to the job that Debbie and her family were known to take. Safe to say that the Oceans were no angels but as far as demons went, they weren’t of the worst kind. And that was just fine with Kate.

Not that Debbie Ocean needed to know any of that.

o0o

“Girl, _what_?”

The grumpy face Nine Ball was making as she stood just inside of her apartment was comical at best but the grim look on Tammy’s face was the counterbalance to whatever bit of humor they could have scraped together from that. The young Jamaican eyed the man standing just behind Tammy—tall, scruffy, imposing even with the graying ponytail.

“I’ve been trying to call you for half an hour.”

“I been sleepin’. Man, didn’t you get the memo?”

“You called me, remember?”

Nine Ball scowled and gave her a slight eye roll her own mother would have smacked her for, “Yeah, wanted t’see if Debbie kicked Lou’s skinny ass yet. Ya’ll didn’t answer so I went back t’sleep.”

“Get your things together,” Tammy said instead, glancing down the empty hallway warily. 

Nine Ball had moved herself and her sister out of the dingy cramped apartment they shared down in Queens and found a safer area in Brooklyn, not too far from where Debbie and Lou’s place. Despite the decision to disband, some girls from the group still somehow managed to relocate to places closer to what was generally was perceived as home where the two senior members of the group currently lived. At some point, even Daphne had been looking into some rather overpriced lofts for herself closer to Brooklyn than Manhattan which she swore was really coming up and up after the place had been swarmed by hipsters.

“What things? Man, _I—need—to—sleep_,” Nine Ball practically growled. “V was dragging my ass all over th—”

“Someone tried to hurt Lou,” Tammy cut her off quickly which immediately shut up the tech whiz. “We don’t know what’s going on but we gotta go. Get your things. Pack whatever. Come on.”

Nine Ball stared at her then at the strange man behind her and nodded, pushing the door to her apartment wider to let them in. Tammy looked at Baz who nodded wordlessly and she stepped inside, letting him close the door behind her where she knew he would station himself until they were finished. She followed Nine Ball into her home, noting that while it was not overtly large, it was nice and spacious and looked quite lived in without being messy.

There was no doubt it was the home that belonged to Nine Ball, where the accents spoke of her personality and her style. There were computer hardware, teach accessories and some bongs spread about in the main living area, some colorful art pieces on the walls and surprisingly dark though very useful heavy drapes on the windows to keep the light out during the day. All in all, the home was lovely and essentially Leslie and Veronica and that warmed Tammy’s heart, knowing the sisters had found themselves a home they could share and be comfortable in.

Tammy waited in the living room, checking her phone quickly in case there were updates from Kate. She checked her smartphone too, scanning on social media for updates on Daphne, letting out a breath when she noticed the actress had updated her page with a selfie eight minutes prior. Then she moved to check on Rose who was tagged on social media as having been spotted in Manhattan with one of her new young designers who were interning at her studio. She was fine checking on some of them through social media but she would need Nine Ball to do a more in depth search on everyone, just in case.

She checked her messages for replies from Amita, frowning when she didn’t find any. She checked for the app that would tell her the time from anywhere in the world, checking to see what time it would be in Paris in case that would explain why the young jeweler hadn’t replied yet. 

“I’m ready,” Nine Ball’s voice startled Tammy out of her thoughts, causing her to jump slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Lou okay?”

“She’s okay,” Tammy said breezily. “Just scrapes and a few bruises. Constance and Debbie are with her. Do you have everything? Did you pack clothes?”

“Clothes?” Nine Ball frowned, glancing down at the two heavy duty cases she was standing next to that were full of nothing but tech hardware.

“I thought you could stay with us for a bit,” Tammy answered then stopped. “Uh, at Lou’s place. I’m thinking of staying there too. My kids are in California with my parents.”

“Oh, right,” Nine Ball went back into her room and emerged with a sizable travel backpack. “This my shit from my trip with V. The hotel did laundry so, you know...”

“Do you need any help with that?”

“Nah.”

Tammy nodded, smiling a little and motioned towards the door. She knocked once and waited until the door was opened for her, ignoring the look she could feel Nine Ball was giving her. Baz opened the door and stepped aside for both women to pass. Tammy motioned towards the gruff man with the slightly weathered face.

“Baz, this is Nine Ball,” she said casually. “Nine Ball, this is Baz. He’s with us.”

“Yo,” the younger woman said to the man, her thick braids bouncing jauntily as she walked. He gave her a nod in return and took her backpack from the back of one of her cases without a word and moved ahead of Tammy down the hall.

Curious, Nine Ball caught up to Tammy as she dragged her two heavy duty cases on their wheels. “Hey mama, what’s with the scruff?”

“He’s an old friend,” Tammy answered. “He’s helping out for the time being.”

“Like from your warehouse thing?”

“Uh, no. He works for an old friend of mine.”

She frowned slightly, “Are we on another job? Like, that what’s Lou in trouble for?”

Tammy bit her bottom lip, glancing at Nine Ball before they stepped into the service elevator in the back that Baz was holding open for them. “We don’t know yet.”

“What’s that mean?”

Tammy sighed, “It means we need to talk to Lou but she’s...sleeping.”

Nine Ball rolled her eyes, “Then wake her the hell up. Ya sure didn’t have a problem knockin’ my door down, T.”

“It’s not that easy, Les,” Tammy sighed. “Look, let’s just go, okay? We’ll meet up with Debbie and figure out what to do. Have you heard from Amita?”

“She sent me a text like, I dunno, yesterday?”

Tammy glanced at her then at the panel showing them which floor they were on, “So she’s still out of the country?”

“Uh, no, she said she just got back, but she was jetlagged,” the young hacker shrugged. “Like, you know, ‘cause traveling kicks your ass?” The tone more than heavily implied that she was still displeased with being disturbed.

Tammy sighed, “Leslie...”

“What? Am tired.”

Tammy gave her a soft look that was simply asking her to be a little less grumpy, “I’m sorry but right now, we really need you, okay?”

“For what? It’s not life or death, is it?”

Nine Ball caught the strange look that flashed across the blonde’s face as the doors opened, surprised when she stepped away from the doors. Tammy blocked her from view while letting Baz take the spot in front of her and Nine Ball watched as she reach for something behind her back, her eyes widening slightly when she realized it was a weapon hidden under her blouse.

A man appeared in front of the elevator and Nine Ball jumped slightly, bracing herself for the worst but Tammy and her companion lowered their guard, relaxing their stance when they saw who it was.

“Burke,” Tammy sighed. “Everything okay?”

The tall, clean shaven man who could easily pass as a marine nodded, taking the bag from Baz and started down the dimly lit hall. They were in the basement of Nine Ball’s building where the storage units for the tenants were and the place was just too damned creepy for both siblings to bother going to so this was the first time since the tour the young Jamaican had been there. It was still creepy and made creepier by the weird tense cloud Tammy and her guys took with them.

Baz moved ahead, looking around as he went as if expecting something to come out of the shadows. Tammy turned to Nine Ball, smiling at her and motioned for her to come forward and walk with her.

“Uh, girl, what the hell is going on?”

“We should probably talk about it when we’re with the group so it’ll be easier to understand, okay?” Tammy said, squeezing her forearm gently. “We’re just taking precautions.”

“Because someone tried to hurt Lou?” Nine Ball remembered what she’d said earlier. “What the hell did they do to her?”

“That’s...” Tammy stopped. “Actually, we don’t know. Like I said, we’ll need to wait and see what Lou has to say. I’m just taking precautions because I want to make sure everyone’s alright.”

Nine Ball barely noticed the two burly men practically practically kick the back door open as she focused her attention on Tammy. “You think someone’s comin’ after us.”

“I don’t know, Leslie,” the blonde answered honestly. “But until I know, I want to make sure everyone stays safe. Debbie thinks I’m being paranoid.”

“Well, are you?”

Tammy gave her a slight frown, both of them stepping through the doors together and out towards a parked black town car. Burke stored the backpack in the trunk and Tammy had Nine Ball slide in first, looking around at the midday activities going around them. There was someone tossing a bag of trash in the dumpster at the corner and there was a cat on one windowsill three floors up but otherwise, the place was quiet. 

On one end where the alley leads to the busy streets, there were people walking by, not a single soul noticing the parked vehicle or its occupants. The back of the building wasn’t as clean as the front but it was empty and Tammy couldn’t spot any visible cameras within range. She let out a breath, knocking her fist slightly on the top of the car before slipping in the backseat with Nine Ball.

“Where to?” Baz asked from the front, glancing at Nine Ball as he turned to look at the blonde.

She took her smartphone out again, checking for replies from Amita. She tried to call her only to get through to her voicemail which was enough to worry her. She looked up at Baz, biting the inside of her cheek as she decided what to do, “Go to the next location.”

Baz turned to the driver and nodded at him and the black town car easily slipped out of the back of the residential building and into the busy streets. 

Tammy sat back, breathing in deeply and turned her head to watch the world go by through the window. Nine Ball sat beside her while she in turn watched the older woman. The air was surprisingly relaxed, the only slight source of tension being the blonde but she was resting in her seat seemingly unbothered. But the hacker could see the tension along her body and the twitching on her injured fingers—she still didn’t know how Tammy got those but she didn’t think now would be the right time to ask. 

Something was definitely going on and while Nine Ball always thought Tammy was more of the worrying type compared to the always confident, always in control Debbie and the very much relaxed and sometimes aloof Lou, this was more tension that she was used to seeing on the part-time wife and sometime fence.

“You’re not worried about Amita, are you?” Nine Ball asked, looking the blonde over. “’cause the only thing we gotta worry about is that girl killin’ her momma.”

Tammy’s head lolled to the side, grinning at her companion lazily, “Her mother still on her about getting married?”

“She didn’t like the ash guy.”

“Ash guy?” Tammy frowned. “Oh, you mean the guy from the dating app? I think his name was Asher...at least, that’s what Constance told me.”

“Yeah, that one,” Nine Ball nodded. “Her mom doesn’t want her with a white dude.”

“It’s probably the cultural differences,” Tammy responded. “But at the end of the day, it’s still Amita’s choice. If she likes the guy, she can keep dating him. She’s moving out anyway.”

“Yeah...she told her mom about that and they had a huge blow out,” Nine Ball whistled, turning her head towards her window. “Like if they were in the same continent they’d probably throw shit at each other kind of blow out.”

“Oh, no,” Tammy said. “I haven’t been in touch with her. Is she okay?”

“She got money and she got feet,” Nine Ball shrugged. “She can move her ass out her momma’s house and start livin’ her life. Shit, she gotta go do her own thing.”

“Well, let’s see how that’s going then,” Tammy smiled. “Amita’s a smart girl. She’ll figure it out.”

“She was really digging Paris,” the young hacker commented. “She was freakin’ pissed her momma was harshing her mellow from the other side of the world.”

Tammy chuckled, “Probably should have turned her phone off.”

“Or changed her number,” Nine Ball muttered, glancing at her companion once more. “You okay, T?”

“I’m fine,” the blonde answered, pushing her hair back from her face. “Today’s just been...a lot more than I was expecting.”

Nine Ball raised an eyebrow, “This about Lou?”

Tammy sighed, “She’s...she’s okay. The doctor said she was probably in a motorcycle accident.”

“Doctor? What doctor?”

“Oh...we had someone check Lou over,” she answered after a beat. “That’s why we can’t talk to her yet. They gave strict advice she should rest for a while.”

“She got into an accident in the Catskills?” Nine Ball asked, suspicious.

“We really don’t know, Les,” Tammy responded honestly. “She’s got a few scrapes along her leg and some bruising consistent with an accident like that so that’s what they’re thinking.”

“So where was Lou’s bike?”

“We have no idea.”

“Did you find her in a hospital or somethin’? This shit makes no sense.”

“I’d have to agree...which is why I am—as Debbie calls it—being paranoid.”

Nine Ball shook her head, “Girl, what the hell is going on?”

“Wish I could tell you.”

Baz rapped his knuckle against the dashboard, “We’re here.”

Tammy sat up, looking out the window and realizing they were indeed at their destination. They were in the middle of Queens, along the rows of stores and locations where Amita Kapoor’s family business was located. She quietly instructed Burke where to go after they get out of the car, opting instead to tell him about the access in the back of the building where she remembered the Kapoor’s having better access to their home off the busy streets.

“Never been to Amita’s place before,” Nine Ball said, looking around curiously. “We goin’ in?”

Tammy shook her head, “No. You’re staying here with Burke.”

“What? Man, that’s—”

“We need to be in and out, Les,” the blonde said quickly. “We still need to get back to Lou. Sooner we get outta here, the better.”

“Aight, aight, sheesh,” Nine Ball muttered, patting the blonde on the hip firmly. “I hear ya. Just be careful or whatever, eh?”

Tammy smiled, “Yes, yes. Now, stay here—do not go anywhere,” the instructions were very clear and obviously came from a mother used to corralling squirmy kids. “We’ll be right back,” she said, tapping the seat in front of her and she and Baz got out at the same time, jumping right into the streets and disappearing into the crowd. 

Nine Ball sat back when she realized she couldn’t spot Tammy’s blonde head anymore. When the car started to move, she glanced at the driver who was keeping his eyes on the busy road. She raised an eyebrow slightly, reaching down by her feet and pulled out her laptop. 

“We’re headed to the back, right?” she asked casually, pulling up windows on her screen and began to type, one finger moving quickly on the track pad.

Burke nodded, “We’ll meet them in the back as Miss McDeere requested.”

“Uhuh, aight,” Nine Ball nodded distractedly, nearly completely forgetting about the other person in the car as she began to absorb herself in her new task. She smiled when she found what she needed within a few keystrokes.

Burked glanced at her through the rear view mirror, “Please stay in the car.”

“Uhuh.”

o0o

“Shit.”

Tammy stopped when she felt the phone tucked into her pocket begin to vibrate. She kept close to the side of the street, one store away from Amita’s family business. Baz stopped with her, keeping an eye on the crowds.

“Wh—Leslie?”

“Check your pocket.”

“Wh—I don’t have time for this. I—”

“Front right pocket.”

Tammy glared at the ground, doing as she was told and found an earpiece. She frowned, eyeing the small device, “Constance has been teaching you things.”

“Yeah and you’re slipping,” she could hear the smirk in her voice. “Put that in your ear. I’m looking at the cameras in the shop,” Nine Ball spoke and her nails hitting the keys on her laptop carried through the line. “It’s empty...in the middle of the afternoon. They don’t close for another three hours.”

Tammy’s eyes widened, “You got into the feed. You’re a genius.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nine Ball’s bored tone slipped through clearly. “Now put that damn thing in your ear. I’m not lettin’ you go in there blind.”

She smiled happily, connecting her phone to the device easily and slipped it into her ear. “Hey?”

“I’m here,” Nine Ball said. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Tammy motioned for Baz it was time to move once more. She looked around, looking for anything out of the ordinary, “Any chance there are cameras anywhere else?”

“Nah, this is pretty basic,” Nine Ball sounded displeased. “But the place is empty which is weird. Amita always bitched about how being in there was like actually being in India because it was always full of people and shit.”

Tammy nodded, “Any movement?”

“No. How’re you gonna get in?”

“We’ll see,” Tammy said just as she reached the front of the shop, checking the doors to see if they were accessible. The sign on the door said they were closed but when she pushed the door open it easily gave. The door closed silently behind them, shutting out the world and the noises of the daily grind. Moving deeper into the store, Tammy shot Baz a look who nodded at her, keeping his hand in the lining on his jacket.

“No movement anywhere,” Nine Ball said quietly into her ear. “Place looks empty.”

Tammy looked around, spotting the display cases where all kinds of jewelry were on display. In the corner of the room behind one display case was a table with a glass partition and a lamp with a magnifier attached where she assumed Amita worked and examined goods. She moved past one case where there was space enough for one person to walk through to reach the back of the shop. She felt Baz following close behind, making as little noise as possible.

“Wait.”

Tammy stopped, holding her breath on instinct as Nine Ball’s sharp voice cut through the silence. She raised her closed fist up by her head to signal Baz behind her who immediately stood still.

“Movement near the back—that open door to your right.”

Tammy glanced behind her, pointing her finger to where Nine Ball described so Baz would know she was headed that way. She slipped her gun out from the band in the back of her pants and held it behind her, moving quickly behind the case and pressed her back against the wall, creeping along the short way until she was right next to the open door.

She looked across the aisle where Baz remained, gun in hand and in position to provide her with sufficient cover if need be. She gave him a sharp nod before easing to the edge of the door, taking a deep breath before moving her head further in, looking into the backroom.

There was a sudden flash and Nine Ball screamed into her ear.

A loud bang broke the silence of the empty room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay in updates--this story is still very much active and actually has been on constant rotation along with my work stuff. The story is moving along and I feel I should update you guys with the fact that a new original character will be joining the group soon enough. This is Tammy's life and she does have people outside of the life she lived with Lou and Debbie--especially before them and while they were apart. if you guys liked this chapter and would like the story to continue, please share your thoughts and even your disappointment with the delayed updates. That's alright too.


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